The Minister of Education, Tahir Mamman, has vowed that security operatives will go after holders of certificates from degree mills.

Mamman made this vow during an interview on Channels TV's Politics Today on Wednesday.

The minister was commenting on the Federal Government's recent directive on degrees from Benin Republic and Togo.

Recall that the Federal Government, through the Federal Ministry of Education, suspended accreditation of degree certificates from Benin Republic and Togo.

The suspension followed an investigative report by Daily Nigerian indicting a university in Benin Republic where a first degree was obtained within weeks.

Speaking on holders of such certificates who have been in the system, the minister said, "If along the line, we are able to trace people who are in the system they would be punished. For instance if a particular institution or an operator has been operating in the last 10 years we can check.

"If we can get records of Nigerians who attended those institutions and once we do that they are criminals. There is no time frame for criminality. We will trace them and if we are able to lay our hands on them, certainly security operatives will go after them."

Mamman added that the minister is widening its investigation on degree mills to other institutions in some African countries.