54 corps members, including a bread seller, who were illegally mobilized as graduates of the University of Calabar, UNICAL, for national service, have been expelled by the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC.

The NYSC Director-General, Brigadier General YD Ahmed, disclosed this in Abuja via a statement on Saturday by the Director of Information and Public Relations, Mr. Eddy Megwa.

He stated that the affected corps members would be prosecuted accordingly.

In addition to the expulsion, 19 other individuals who attempted to register online for mobilization were prevented from doing so.

Also, four certificates of national service were withheld due to irregularities.

This development came after the NYSC voided 101 certificates of national service earlier, bringing the total number of affected certificates to 178.

The NYSC Director-General commended the Vice-Chancellor of UNICAL, Professor Florence Obi, for reporting the illegal mobilization of unqualified graduates from her institution.

General Ahmed emphasized that the NYSC would intensify its collaboration with all Heads of Corps Producing Institutions and relevant stakeholders to prevent future occurrences.

He also urged employers to verify the authenticity of the certificates of national service presented by job applicants.

The statement quoted Ahmed as saying, “The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Calabar came here to report that she observed some names appeared on the institution’s list that ought not to have been there.

“I give kudos to the Vice-Chancellor. Previously, a bread seller was mobilized on the graduation list from the same institution.

“There are bad eggs in many places that generate matriculation numbers and courses for their candidates.

“Those who are responsible for inputting the data of graduates should be people of integrity.”