REPORTER’S DIARY: Scammed over NERD registration, How a simple process turned into a ₦13,000 nightmare

On Monday, 7th September, I stepped out to begin my NYSC registration at Dupe Photos, a cyber café somewhere around Ibadan.

Little did I know that I was not prepared for the registration. I had not yet uploaded my final-year thesis to the NERD portal, in line with the Federal Government’s directive.

In a bid to get it done, I approached the woman at the cyber café reception and asked if they could help PCM members with NERD uploading. She replied simply: “No.”

That single word left me frustrated. I did not want to go through the route my friends and course mates had recommended. Days earlier, every one of them had told me the same thing: “You can only do it through these online guys.”

I was very reluctant. I have never fully trusted online registration or transaction processes of this nature.

Still standing at the cyber café, I called a friend and asked if he had any reliable contact for the NERD registration. At first, he scolded me: “Didn’t I tell you that you can’t do it at any cyber café? Only these online guys can handle it.”

Eventually, he agreed to refer me to a plug whose WhatsApp Business profile showed she handled almost everything concerning NYSC registration.

When I messaged her, the first reply was an AI-automated message. I immediately thought, “Is this one not fake too?” Her subsequent personal reply temporarily cleared my doubt.

We agreed on the price, but then she stopped responding. I became unsettled and left for my friend’s house.

There, I explained the situation. My friend also messaged her and got no reply. We tried several other online contacts, but the result remained the same, silence.

Feeling tired, I asked my friend for the next line of action. He suggested we wait until evening. I went home to continue working on some drafts and rest, promising to return later that night.

That evening, after another round of unresponsive contacts, I decided to try one more person, a man I had seen on one of the NYSC WhatsApp groups I belong to: Mr Baker.

He replied almost immediately. His responses and the testimonials on the group made him appear serious. Then he quoted ₦25,000, far above the ₦10,000 to ₦13,000 range my friends had paid.

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I declined and stopped replying.

Almost immediately, I contacted another person from a different NYSC WhatsApp group, Mr Ope. He advertised various NYSC-related services, including NERD registration. He quoted ₦13,000. That was the widely accepted price, so I agreed.

I transferred the money to a MoMo account in the name Taiwo Shaibu. When I asked when the NERD compliance certificate would be ready, he said it would be available the following morning. I accepted without hesitation.

 

On Tuesday morning, Mr Ope sent what he claimed was my NERD compliance registration certificate.

I forwarded it to a friend who scanned the QR code. The result was devastating. The certificate belonged to someone else entirely:

NDN: PRJ-2373914631774865595

Title: Design and Implementation of an Arduino Based Automated Electrical Vehicle with an Incorporated LCD Display

Student Name: Christopher Hyllanduna Davidson

Institution: University of Abuja, Abuja

Faculty: Engineering

Department: Electrical/Electronics Engineering

Submission Type: Project

Date of Submission: 2026-03-30 10:13:15

It was completely fake. I felt a mix of terror and disappointment. The exact fear I had tried so hard to avoid had come true.

After several hours of unanswered messages, I discovered Mr Ope had changed his number. Because I was still in his WhatsApp group, I reached him on the new contact. He apologised and claimed it was an “error”, that he had received over 20 NERD registration requests that same day.

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I insisted on a full refund. His response was that I should pay an additional ₦4,000 so he could process the correct registration, because he claimed he had no money with him.

As of the time of writing, Mr Ope has neither refunded my ₦13,000 nor provided a genuine NERD registration. What began as a simple attempt to comply with a government directive ended in a calculated scam.

The refusal of cyber cafés to handle NERD uploads has created a thriving underground market of “online guys.” Some may be genuine; others, like Mr Ope, exploit desperate students.

I am still left with unanswered questions: Will the money ever be recovered? Will the correct registration ever be done? And how many other students are currently walking the same path?

As I write this, my ₦13,000 is still gone, and the correct NERD registration remains undone. But beyond my personal loss, this experience raises a bigger question: How many more young graduates will fall victim before the system is fixed?Until cyber cafés are empowered, or the NERD portal is made truly accessible, stories like mine will continue to multiply in silence.