Ebonyi Suspends 15 Lecturers Over Certificate Forgery

The Ebonyi State Government has suspended 15 lecturers of the state-owned College of Education, Ikwo, indefinitely.

The Personal Assistant to the State Governor on Higher Education, Prof. Mike Itumo, told newsmen in Abakaliki that the affected lecturers were alleged to possess forged Masters and Doctorate degree certificates.

Itumo said that the suspension had been approved by the institution’s disciplinary body and communicated to Governor Martin Elechi.

He said that further sanctions would be given to the affected lecturers at the end of full-scale investigation.

“There is an ongoing investigation into the allegation and, as soon as it is concluded, further sanctions will be announced.

“Forgery is a criminal offence and our system frowns at it, and so we shall not hesitate to institute criminal proceedings against those found liable.

“We are determined to clean up the augean stable and we will stop at nothing to achieve this,’’ Itumo said.

He restated government’s determination to make the college a model for teacher education and maintained that plans to upgrade the institution to a degree-awarding college had reached final stage.

The aide warned that government would, henceforth, clamp down on illegal and unapproved satellite campuses and study centres of unrecognised institutions of higher learning operating in the state.

He said that the state would not recognise certificates or degrees obtained from such institutions for employment or any other academic transaction.

“We are committed to entrenching academic excellence in order to safeguard the educational future of our state and that of our children.