By Adedapo Adesanya
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has warned Nigerians students over plagiarised academic projects.
This came as the commission arrested a group of people involved in the advertisement and sale of completed, plagiarised academic projects to students online.
A statement issued by Mrs Azuka C. Ogugua, spokesperson for the commission, disclosed that many students in Nigerian tertiary institutions fell victims to plagiarised projects.
“The persons allegedly package and market plagiarized academic projects to desperate students to assist them unlawfully fulfil the requirement for the award of different degrees across the country.
“Investigations revealed that some of the culprits of the online project scam were resident at Cross River, Ebonyi, Enugu and Anambra States.
“Ten suspects were arrested, out of which six have been released on bail, while the remaining four who were seriously implicated in the matter are still assisting the commission with useful information. Items seized from the suspects for forensic analysis – laptops & mobile phones – will be returned to the suspects after investigations provided they are not required as exhibits,” the statement read.
The agency also stated that the arrest was a result of an ongoing inter-agency collaboration between the ICPC and the National University Commission (NUC), aimed at putting an end to the fast-rising scam on academic projects on the internet.
The commission advised all Nigerian students not to fall prey to this ploy by fraudsters on the internet as anyone caught patronizing their sites would not be spared as the agency and would be punished for plagiarism and examination malpractice.
