The Federal Government has issued a warning to Nigerians about a fraudulent online employment scheme falsely offering positions in Nigerian diplomatic missions abroad.
In a statement released on Wednesday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs discredited the scam and emphasized that it does not conduct direct recruitment of Foreign Service officers. Ministry spokesperson Kimiebi Ebienfa clarified that such appointments are exclusively handled by the Federal Civil Service Commission.
“We want to put it on record that the Ministry does not recruit officers directly,” Ebienfa stated. “Recruitment of Foreign Service officers is carried out solely by the Federal Civil Service Commission.”
He revealed that scammers have impersonated him in emails to lend credibility to the fraud. One such message falsely informed recipients of their “successful application” to the Nigerian Embassy in Juba, South Sudan, and instructed them to pay ₦165,800 for a diplomatic passport.
Ebienfa dismissed the message as entirely fake, stressing that diplomatic appointments follow a strict process involving official selection, training at the Foreign Service Academy, and proper deployment. He also noted that diplomatic and official passports are issued at no cost.
“No Nigerian should pay for a diplomatic passport or believe any job offer claiming to come directly from the Ministry,” he warned.
The Ministry urged the public to ignore such messages and report any suspicious activity to the appropriate authorities.
