UNICAL to sanction officials behind illegal NYSC mobilisation

Authorities of the University of Calabar, Cross Rivers State, have vowed to sanction officials behind the mobilisation of illegal or unqualified graduates for the National Youth Service Corps.

The university’s Pro-Chancellor, Udom Ekpoudom, a retired Deputy Inspector-General of Police, disclosed on Tuesday that an investigation had begun to unravel the complicit officials.

The NYSC had on Monday said it uncovered 101 unqualified graduates fraudulently mobilised for the one-year mandatory youth service scheme by UNICAL.

In a statement by its Director of Information and Public Relations, Eddy Megwa, the NYSC said, “This is to inform members of the public that the under-listed 99 persons and two others on exemption were fraudulently mobilised by the University of Calabar for national service during the 2021, 2022 and 2023 NYSC service years.

“The management of the National Youth Service Corps hereby restates its strong commitment to ensuring that unqualified locally and foreign-trained Nigerian youths, especially those purported to have graduated from unaccredited universities, are not recognised while only qualified persons are issued with NYSC certificates of national service.

“Arising from the above, the certificates of national service of the under-listed persons have been invalidated forthwith by the NYSC management.”

In a telephone interview on Tuesday, the UNICAL Pro-Chancellor described the development as embarrassing, vowing that complicit officials would be brought to book.

“The NYSC has done very well on this. We are trying to find out the staff behind it so as to deal with them accordingly. The people are not students, they forged documents and went for deployment.

“This is the first step, the next step is to find out those behind the criminal act,” Ekpoudom.