Tahir Mamman, Minister of Education, has said that security operatives will go after holders of certificates from degree mills.

The minister was commenting on the Federal Government’s recent directive on degrees from Benin Republic and Togo during an interview on Channels TV’s Politics Today.

Following an investigative report by Daily Nigerian indicting a university in Benin Republic where a first degree was obtained within weeks, the Federal Government through the Federal Ministry of Education on Tuesday suspended accreditation of degree certificates from Benin Republic and Togo.

But when asked during the interview about his position on holders of such certificates who have been in the system, the minister said, “If along the line, we are able to trace people who are in the system they would be punished. For instance if a particular institution or an operator has been operating in the last 10 years we can check.

“If we can get records of Nigerians who attended those institutions and once we do that they are criminals. There is no time frame for criminality. We will trace them and if we are able to lay our hands on them, certainly security operatives will go after them.”

Mamman added that the minister is widening its investigation on degree mills to other institutions in some African countries.