The Federal Government has dismissed several civil servants who obtained degrees from private tertiary institutions in Benin Republic and Togo from 2017 to date.

This was confirmed by Segun Imohiosen, the Director of Information and Public Relations in the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, during a statement on Wednesday.

In August, the government announced that only eight universities in Benin Republic and Togo were accredited to award degrees to Nigerians, following an investigative report exposing certificate fraud. A journalist from Daily Nigerian had acquired a degree from a Benin Republic university in just two months and used it to participate in the National Youth Service Corps scheme.

In response, the Federal Government banned the accreditation and evaluation of degrees from unapproved institutions in these countries and established an Inter-Ministerial Investigative Committee on Degree Certificate Milling to tackle certificate racketeering.

The directive underscores the government’s efforts to curb the proliferation of fake degrees and safeguard the integrity of Nigeria’s education and civil service systems.