Nigeria, Sept. 24 -- Nigeria's Ministry of Education says its website was hacked to upload statements branding a controversial Russian recruitment programme, Alabuga Start Programme, as a credible scholarship opportunity for young Nigerians.

The ministry's Federal Scholarship Board director, Ndajiwo Asta, said statements uploaded to the website in 2022 and 2023 were posted by fraudsters who sought to use the ministry's name to legitimise the controversial programme.

"We didn't place it. Someone once showed me the letter on the website, which was posted in 2022. Since 2022, why has it not expired? This is the AI age; anybody can just draft a letter and upload it online. That is the case here. You should know this," she told PREMIUM TIMES...