The police high command has arraigned 37 recruits undergoing training at the Police College, Ilorin, the Kwara State capital for presenting fake certificates.

The suspects, who include eight women, had spent five months in the police training college before they were discovered to have presented fake certificates and other documents.

They were arraigned before three separate magistrate courts on charges of criminal conspiracy, forgery, impersonation and use of fake certificates.

The police said the offences contradicted sections 97, 363, 132, and 163 of the Penal Code law of Nigeria.

Detectives from the monitoring unit of force headquarters, Abuja, led by U.C Chika (DSP) were said to have uncovered the fraud, leading to their arrest.

Chika alleged that the accused were recruited into the police force with various certificates, ranging from Senior Secondary School Certificates, National Certificates of Education, university degrees, among others, which were discovered to have been forged.

The complainant said that it was also discovered that they impersonated to be holders of such certificates after the screening of the certificates they presented at the point of entry.

They were also accused of presenting birth certificates and declarations of age which did not represent their true ages.

Police First Information Report (FIR) on the matter stated that investigation conducted at the state CID, Ilorin, revealed that they committed the offences.

The prosecution witness, who had informed the court that the alleged offences were not ordinarily bailable, objected to the bail of the accused and urged the court to remand them at the Federal Prison, Ilorin pending the outcome of ongoing investigations into the matter.

The defence counsel, Mr. Shina Ibiyemi of Legal Aids Council, Ilorin, prayed the court to release the accused on bail pending the determination of the case.