No fewer than 18 Nigerian nurses resident in Texas, the United States, have been charged to court for obtaining educational credentials through fraudulent means. . . In a multi-state coordinated law enforcement action, called Operation Nightingale, the US Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG), discovered that some individuals had obtained fraudulent nursing degree diplomas and transcripts. . . The investigation, which was launched on January 25, was aimed at uncovering fraudulent dealings where individuals acquired nursing credentials and used them to qualify to sit for the national nursing board examination. . . “The Board has filed Formal Charges against the following nurses for fraudulently obtaining educational credentials,”
The multi-state coordinated law enforcement action code-named ‘Operation Nightingale,’ involving the US Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG), was inaugurated on January 25, 2023, to arrest individuals involved in a scheme to sell false and fraudulent nursing degree diplomas and transcripts.
The Nigerians involved are; Abiodun, Yetunde Felicia; Adelakun, Abiodun Aveez; Adelekan, Joseph Adewale; Adeoye, Vivien Temitope; Adewale, Modinat Abidemi; Afolabi, Olufemi Toun; Afolabi, Omowunmi F; Agbo, Odumegwu Steve; and Ajibade, Charlot Omotayo.
Others are; Akande, Olabisi Christiana; Akhigbe, Catherine; Akinrolabu, Folasade Margaret; Ako, Esiri Rachael; Akpan, Rosemary Moses; Alimi, Bukola A; Ani, Ndirika Justina; Aroh, Nchekwube C.; and Ayodeji, Sherifat Olubunmi.
The Texas Board of Nursing further explained that the suspects engaged in the scheme procured fraudulent nursing credentials which they used to sit for the national nursing board exam.
“Upon successful completion of the board exam, the nursing applicants became eligible to obtain licensure in various states to work as an RN or a LPN/VN,” the Board stated in a separate statement.
Also, it was made clear that the official charges brought against the offenders were not a final disciplinary measure and that they might continue working while the charges were being heard.
