The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has issued a warning to the public about fraudsters offering non-existent postgraduate scholarships to unsuspecting victims.
In a statement released on Sunday in Port Harcourt, Mrs. Seledi Thompson-Wakama, the Director of Corporate Affairs at the NDDC, revealed that scammers have been targeting potential applicants by soliciting money under the guise of securing scholarship placements.
“The attention of the NDDC has been drawn to fraudulent emails and messages sent to applicants of the commission’s Postgraduate Foreign Scholarship Programme,” she said.
Thompson-Wakama disclosed that the scammers had been using an email address, [email protected], pretending to be from the NDDC’s ‘Board Registry.’ These fraudulent messages invite recipients to a fictitious document verification and authentication exercise, claiming it will take place from May 19 to May 21 at Bishop Oluwole Street, Victoria Island, Lagos.
She emphasized that the NDDC has no affiliation with the fraudulent selection process. “Members of the public are hereby advised that the NDDC has no affiliation with this fraudulent selection process,” Thompson-Wakama stated.
The Director of Corporate Affairs clarified that all official communications regarding the scholarship programme are conducted solely through the NDDC’s official portal: www.scholarship.nddc.gov.ng.
“Applicants are strongly advised to disregard any unsolicited messages requesting money, personal information, or offering scholarship placements outside of the official NDDC procedures,” she added.
Thompson-Wakama urged anyone who encounters such fraudulent emails to report them immediately to law enforcement authorities for swift investigation and action.
She also encouraged Nigerians interested in NDDC programmes to only use official communication channels. “We advise former beneficiaries of the commission’s programmes and prospective applicants to verify all information through the NDDC’s official website: *www.nddc.gov.ng*,” she concluded
