The Nigerian Army has revealed that it has arrested three candidates who tried to secure vacancies designated for candidates from Lagos State with fraudulent state of origin certificates.

Major General Onyema Nwachukwu,Director, Army Public Relations, in a statement, informed the public that the fraudulent act perpetrated by the three candidates who attempted to secure vacancies designated for candidates with Lagos State indigeneship is a serious breach of the recruitment process and will not be condoned.

He said the arrest of the fraudulent candidates was a result of the commitment of the Army in upholding a transparent and credible recruitment process in line with its core values of integrity and fairness.

“The video is a pointer to one of the processes to which the candidates were subjected, in order to ensure only true indigenes of a particular State are recruited, using the slots of that state and not non-indigenes,” he said.

He said the viral video in itself, therefore, clearly shows that the process is transparent, as the State Representative, who is a prominent member of the recruitment team, has been part and parcel of the process and was given unhindered access to do her job by scrutinizing the candidates’ State of origin, to ascertain the genuineness of their indigeneship claims.

“The duty of the State Representative is to identify non-indigenes amongst candidates applying for recruitment and this is applicable in other States of the Federation,” he said.

“We want to assure the public that a thorough investigation will be conducted to ascertain the extent of these fraudulent activities and to identify any individual(s) or unscrupulous syndicate(s) involved.

“We are dedicated to ensuring that only the most qualified and deserving candidates are selected to serve in the NA.”

According to the statement, the Army will continue to work closely with relevant authorities to ensure that those responsible for this misconduct are held accountable, adding that the culprits involved will be handed over to the appropriate prosecuting agency.

It said the NA is committed to upholding the rule of law and ensuring that justice is served, just as it urged all prospective candidates to adhere to the principles of honesty and integrity throughout the recruitment process, as any attempt to manipulate the recruitment process will be met with the full force of the law.