The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has cautioned Nigerians to beware of fraudsters offering fictitious postgraduate scholarships under the guise of affiliation with the Commission.
In a statement issued by the NDDC Director of Corporate Affairs, Mrs Seledi Thompson-Wakama, the Commission said it had received reports of fraudulent emails and messages targeting applicants of its Postgraduate Foreign Scholarship Programme.
“The attention of the NDDC has been drawn to fraudulent emails and messages sent to applicants of the Commission’s Postgraduate Foreign Scholarship Programme,” Thompson-Wakama said.
She disclosed that the scammers had been soliciting money from unsuspecting victims, claiming the funds were needed for a bogus document verification and authentication exercise. The emails, allegedly sent from nddcregistry@gmail.com and signed off by a fictitious ‘Board Registry,’ invited recipients to a scheduled verification event between 19 and 21 May at Bishop Oluwole Street, Victoria Island, Lagos.
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“The NDDC has no affiliation with this fraudulent selection process,” she firmly stated.
Thompson-Wakama reiterated that all legitimate communications regarding the Commission’s scholarship programme are conducted solely through its official portal: www.scholarship.nddc.gov.ng.
“Applicants are strongly advised to disregard any unsolicited messages requesting money, personal information, or offering placements outside of the official NDDC procedures,” she added.
She encouraged recipients of such fraudulent messages to report them to law enforcement agencies for proper investigation and prosecution.
Thompson-Wakama also urged former beneficiaries and prospective applicants to verify all information through the Commission’s verified website, www.nddc.gov.ng, and avoid falling prey to online scams.
The NDDC continues to emphasise its commitment to transparency and integrity in the administration of all its intervention programmes.
