Certificate forgery: Chief Diving Inspector condemns Jason Kuru’s action

Julius Ugwala, the Chief Diving Inspector has condemned the action of Jason Kuru, a diver, who attempted to secure a job with fake certificates.

Finding shows that Kuru, who has accused Ugwala of denying him endorsement, took to the social media to blackmail the Chief Diving Inspector after forging his medical records.

Kuru had approached the Chief Diving Inspector after futile attempts to secure a job with his fake certificates and it was said that the Inspector had pulled strings for him only to discover that he forged the medical certificate which he forwarded to would be employers, who upon verification found it to be false.

A statement from Ugwala’s media team said that the Chief Diving Inspector had personally advised Kuru to get the right medical reports but Kuru turned around to blackmail Ugwala, accusing him of shutting his path to employment.

“The Diving Governing Board will be disappointed that a Nigerian Diver is involved in the forgery of the medical certificate from a recognized hospital and attempted to trick a Diving contractor- Hydrodive Nig Limited. If not for effective internal verification measures by the diving company in line with the Diving at Work Regulation of 2018, Jason Kuru would have gotten into the field with forged Medical certificate posing critical safety/ operational challenge to the team and project,” the statement reads.

Meanwhile, the Chief Diving Inspector said that as a member of the National Association of Professional Divers (NAPROD), he has distanced himself from such criminal action and apologised on behalf of Nigerian divers.

He also called for NA- PROD to take the matter of forgery and unprofessional conduct seriously by ensuring its internal process allows for the disciplining of erring parties.

“We assure International Oil Companies (IOCS) that the Chief Inspector of Diving will not hesitate to take the issue of certificate forgery further through legitimate means to ensure the guilty ones are held accountable for their actions. We call on comrades to repudiate such action to kickstart the change required in the sector. If truly we want to succeed, we should be ready to discipline ourselves,” Ugwala advised.

Continuing, he said: “If a diver can get involved in a serious crime of such magnitude, how do we expect multinationals and indigenous companies to have respect for us if we keep silent? I urge all diving personnel working on the Nigerian territorial waters to stop getting involved in actions that have the capacity to dent the image of Nigeria and its divers.”

He, however, assured that, the Diving Advisory Board remains committed to stipulated safety standards, while he sent kudos to Hyperbaric Doctors for giving the needed support to ensure safe diving sector in the nation.

Kayode Oguleye, President of the Hyperbaric Medical Practitioners Society of Nigeria (HMPSN), who confirmed the forgery incident, said that Jason Kuru had been banned for a year for his misconduct.

“We learnt that Kuru has a medical condition affecting his two eyes and that the condition had worsened over the years, which was why he was issued a report declaring him as unfit to dive. Sadly, he altered the report before presenting it to Hydrodive, but the company upon its verification found it to be false,” Oguleye explained.