Graduating students of the American University of Nigeria in Yola celebrate after their commencement ceremony at the school on May 9, 2015 ©Emmanuel Arewa (AFP/File)

The Federal Government of Nigeria on Wednesday announced plans to suspend accreditation of university degrees from Kenya and Uganda in what it said is an effort to crackdown on fraudulent academic certificates.

Nigeria’s Minister of Information Tahir Mamman made the disclosure on local Channels Television on Wednesday.

This comes after Abuja imposed similar sanction on degrees from neighboring Benin and Togo.

The government crackdown comes after an undercover investigation by journalist Umar Audu, who bagged a degree in Mass Communication from ESGT, a Benin university in Cotonou, within six weeks.

“We are not going to stop at just Benin and Togo. We are going to extend the dragnet to countries like Uganda, Kenya, even Niger here where such institutions have been set up,” Minister Mamman said.

Mr Mamman is quoted by the BBC as saying that he has “no sympathy” for individuals who will be affected, adding that they are not victims but “part of the criminal chain that should be arrested”.

Minister Mamman said the measure will protect Nigeria’s employers and the integrity of the country’s qualifications.