{"id":163198,"date":"2025-05-19T22:56:59","date_gmt":"2025-05-19T21:56:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/uncategorized\/certificate-racketeering-reps-grants-10-year-security-protection-for-investigative-journalist"},"modified":"2025-05-20T00:02:04","modified_gmt":"2025-05-19T23:02:04","slug":"certificate-racketeering-reps-grants-10-year-security-protection-for-investigative-journalist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/certificate-racketeering-reps-grants-10-year-security-protection-for-investigative-journalist","title":{"rendered":"Certificate Racketeering: Reps grants 10 -year security protection for investigative journalist"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Nigeria. <\/strong><\/span>The House of Representatives has approved a 10-year security protection for investigative journalist, Umar Audu, following his expose\u0301 on widespread certificate racketeering involving degree mills in the Benin Republic.<\/p>\n

Audu\u2019s undercover investigation uncovered a syndicate that facilitates the sale of unearned university certificates to Nigerians, many of which are then fraudulently cleared by government agencies, including the Ministry of Education.<\/p>\n

NAN reports that the joint House Committees on University, Polytechnic, Interior, Foreign Affairs, and Youth Development are currently probing the scandal.<\/p>\n

Rep. Abubakar Fulata, Chairman of the Committee, announced the House\u2019s directive and called on the Nigeria Police Force and other security agencies, including the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, to ensure Audu\u2019s safety for the next decade.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are grateful to Audu for his courage. We urge the Minister of Interior to ensure that the Civil Defence provides the required support alongside the police,\u201d Fulata said.<\/p>\n

In his testimony before the committee, Audu detailed how he acquired a Benin Republic university degree without attending classes and had it cleared by the Ministry of Education for a fee of \u20a640,000.<\/p>\n

Reacting to the revelations, the Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, advocated for the creation of an automated single-point contact system to centralise educational verification and eliminate such fraud.<\/p>\n

\u201cSuch an error did not occur under this administration. However, a unified, automated portal is essential to curb this menace,\u201d Tunji-Ojo noted, while also apologising to Nigerians for the lapses.<\/p>\n

The Minister of Education, Mr Olatunji Alausa, was represented by a Director in the ministry, Mrs Larai Ahmed.<\/p>\n

Alausa confirmed that the department responsible for clearing Audu\u2019s certificate had been overhauled, and stronger measures were being implemented to prevent future breaches.<\/p>\n

Also appearing before the committee, NYSC Director-General, Brig.-Gen. Olakunle Nafiu, revealed that the corps had begun using biometric verification to validate certificates submitted by prospective corps members.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe deeply regret the anomaly and are collaborating with relevant agencies.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur verification system is now stronger, and we have initiated reforms to prevent any recurrence,\u201d Nafiu assured.<\/p>\n

The House committee reaffirmed its commitment to concluding a thorough investigation and enforcing reforms to safeguard the integrity of Nigeria\u2019s education and public service systems.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Nigeria<\/span> Follow Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Nigeria. The House of Representatives has approved a 10-year security protection for investigative journalist, Umar Audu, following his expose\u0301 on widespread certificate racketeering involving degree mills in the Benin Republic. Audu\u2019s undercover investigation uncovered a syndicate that facilitates the sale of unearned university certificates to Nigerians, many of which are then fraudulently cleared […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":163197,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,14],"tags":[17337,254,1589],"class_list":["post-163198","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-certificate-racketeering","tag-nigeria","tag-reps"],"yoast_head":"\nCertificate Racketeering: Reps grants 10 -year security protection for investigative journalist - Nigeria<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The House of Representatives has approved a 10-year security protection for investigative journalist, Umar Audu, followi ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/certificate-racketeering-reps-grants-10-year-security-protection-for-investigative-journalist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Certificate Racketeering: Reps grants 10 -year security protection for investigative journalist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The House of Representatives has approved a 10-year security protection for investigative journalist, Umar Audu, followi ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/certificate-racketeering-reps-grants-10-year-security-protection-for-investigative-journalist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Nigeria\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-05-19T21:56:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-05-19T23:02:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2025\/05\/sm_1747683170.85353.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/certificate-racketeering-reps-grants-10-year-security-protection-for-investigative-journalist#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/certificate-racketeering-reps-grants-10-year-security-protection-for-investigative-journalist\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Certificate Racketeering: Reps grants 10 -year security protection for investigative journalist\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-05-19T21:56:59+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-05-19T23:02:04+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/certificate-racketeering-reps-grants-10-year-security-protection-for-investigative-journalist\"},\"wordCount\":389,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/certificate-racketeering-reps-grants-10-year-security-protection-for-investigative-journalist#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2025\/05\/sm_1747683170.85353.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Certificate racketeering\",\"Nigeria\",\"Reps\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"Policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/certificate-racketeering-reps-grants-10-year-security-protection-for-investigative-journalist#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/certificate-racketeering-reps-grants-10-year-security-protection-for-investigative-journalist\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/certificate-racketeering-reps-grants-10-year-security-protection-for-investigative-journalist\",\"name\":\"Certificate Racketeering: Reps grants 10 -year security protection for investigative journalist - 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