Four students of the University of Abuja risk jail term for allegedly forging their National Examinations Council (NECO) results to gain admission into the institution.

The four suspects – Effiong Theresa Etim; Solomon Victor; Abdulkabir Mohammad and Yakubu Joy Adama were handed over to NECO by the management of the university for prosecution.

The four students have been arrested by the Nigeria Police and are currently in detention in Minna, Niger State capital where the examination body is headquartered.

Their arrest followed an ongoing verification of certificate exercise embarked upon by NECO on all the higher institutions in Nigeria which led to the arrest of the suspects in October 2019.

The examination body said that the move was to overhaul the institution and its certificate issuance in order to ensure that only credible certificates are issued to the public.

They were supposed to appear before a judge of the Chief Magistrate Court, Wuse zone 2 in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja on Monday.

An official of the examination body told reporters that the suspects may likely be arraigned before the end of this week following the failed arraignment of the students on Monday.

The students could spend up to 14 years in prison where the guilt of their alleged offenses are proved going by the provisions of the Penal Code Act (which is applicable in the Northern part).

A one-count charge has been filed before the court, Police Prosecutor, Chijioke Chigozie, told reporters at the court premises on Monday.

The case has not been assigned to any judge yet, it was learnt.

Chigozie said about nine students of the university have so far been arrested over similar offense.

The students, he noted, are still undergoing further investigation to gather more information.

“This is to send a strong message to students out there using fake NECO certificates”, an official of NECO said on Monday.

The one-count charge reads: “On the 18, October 2019, the registrar of the University of Abuja laid a complaint to the AIG zone 7 headquarters Abuja for investigation.

“It revealed that you Effiong Theresa Etim with June 2017 NECO SSC no 501569013, Solomon Victor June 2017 NECO SSC no: 10506512111, Abdulkabir Mohammad with June 2012 NECO SSC no: 105016543 and Yakubu Joy Adama with June 2016 NECO SSC no: 597472720.

“That these certificates upon which you gained admission or sought admission into the University of Abuja are forged certificates. You are thereby suspected to have committed the above offense.”