Not less than 25 staff of Nuhu Bamalli Polytechnic, Zaria, are now under police investigation for alleged certificate racketeering, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.
The Administrator of the polytechnic, Professor Shehu Dalhatu, disclosed to NAN on Thursday in Zaria that there were reports that the institution’s certificates and statements of result were being forged.
Dalhatu said: “We’ve heard stories all along that our certificates and statements of result are now so cheap in the market.
“We are disturbed about it and at a point, we got a report which we investigated internally. We established that some members of our staff are involved.
“In addition, we discovered that one person who is also involved is neither our student nor our staff,” he said.
According to him, the management of the institution had taken a decision that any staff involved should be treated in accordance with laws governing the institution.
He, however, said the non staff that was allegedly involved had also been handed over to the police.
“In the course of police investigation, the suspect mentioned some of our staff who were also involved. So, the police invited them and, in fact, we gave them support.
“We attached them to the chief security officer of the institution to ensure that they were not harassed, molested or unduly intimidated by the police,” he said.
He said the invitation by the police was not meant to sanction or punish anybody but was aimed at ascertaining the extent to which the suspects were involved in the matter.
“We have reached an agreement with police that whatever may be the outcome of their investigation would be conveyed to the polytechnic to use its internal laws to deal with it.
“To the best of my knowledge, this is the truth of the situation; but it has generated a lot of interest in and around the polytechnic.
“I have been threatened and I have been maligned,” he said.
The administrator also alleged that some people had decided to take a trip to Kano to probe his history.
“This is with a view to digging out if I have any history of scandal so that it will be publicised.
“As far as I am concerned, we are not doing this to witch-hunt anybody; but this is the best way to protect and project the image of the polytechnic,” he added.
Dalhatu gave the assurance that the management was making efforts to identify the sources of the alleged fake certificates to put a stop to the racketeering.
He appealed for maximum support and cooperation from staff to enable the management to reform the institution for the good of all. (NAN)
