Last weekend, a story broke that a mysterious snake had
swallowed over N36million belonging to the Benue State
office of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board
(JAMB) in Makurdi.
While many pondered the veracity of the tale, some
believed it was aimed at creating a diversion to shield a
fraud.
>>>Click here to earn free money<<<
Meanwhile, Sunday Vanguard investigations have revealed
that the tale may have been designed to cover up a fraud in
the Board after the immediate past Registrar, Professor
Dibu Ojerinde, launched a probe into the finances of JAMB
across the 36 states of the federation.
“The missing money was not swallowed by a snake contrary
to the story making the rounds in the traditional and social
media”, an official in the Makurdi office of JAMB, who
chose to remain anonymous, said.
“I can take you round our premises and even the toilets to
see if there is anything like a snake here. It was a dummy
sold to the public by those responsible for what is at best a
tale by moonlight.
“The truth of the matter is that we had a case of a female
accounts officer who was accused of diverting M36million
belonging to the Board to her personal use and tried rather
ridiculously to claim that a snake swallowed the money in
this office.
>>>Click here to earn free money<<<
“I know for sure that an audit of the finances of JAMB was
initiated by the immediate past Registrar, Professor Dibu
Ojerinde, about two years ago and, in the course of that
audit, some issues were raised concerning the funds of the
Board in the state.
“When the new Registrar, Prof. Is-haq Oloyede, took over
sometime in 2016, he continued with the probe and that
was what led to the discovery of the disappearance of the
N36million.
“I must state that what we are hearing today did not just
happen; it took place before the exit of the last Registrar
and it happened over a period of time.
“It took place when we were still selling scratch cards to
enable prospective candidates buy our forms.
“The official at the centre of it all has been transferred to
Abuja. She was moved when the discovery was made last
year and she is believed to be helping in the investigation.
“So it is not that a snake swallowed any money here. That
tale was cooked by whoever did maybe to sell a dummy or
to divert attention.
“The fraud was said to have been executed with the
connivance of some cafe operators and other JAMB
officials.
“But the claim that some cafe operators had been arrested
for questioning over the matter is something I cannot
confirm.
“And nobody can draw any conclusions until investigation is
completed”.
>>>Click here to earn free Money,<<<
Saying the system of buying scratch card to procure JAMB
forms by candidates has since been replaced, another
official at the Makurdi office said, “What we now do is to
sell what we call pins in designated banks, post offices and
cafés and to those who prefer to use credit card with which
prospective candidates are able to access our Direct Entry
and Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, UTME,
forms for registration.”
Asked if the accounts officer fingered in the scam had any
records of fraud, the senior official said, “I cannot really say
but I can say that she was diligent in discharging her
responsibilities and nothing whatsoever gave her away as a
fraudulent person until this story broke out”.
When Sunday Vanguard visited a cyber cafe in Makurdi
metropolis whose owner was said to have been arrested in
connection with the fraud, a man, who claimed to be the
manager and gave his name as Izuchkwu, confirmed that
his boss was invited for questioning in Abuja about two
weeks ago and was yet to return.
>>>Click here to earn free money<<<
“I do not want to speak on the matter again because we had
talked about it earlier in the week, but I learnt that my boss
has been arrested over an issue that has to do with fraud in
the Makurdi office of JAMB”, he said.
“But I know that he is innocent because we usually sell
scratch cards and pins for JAMB and if anything went
wrong in the course of the business, it will certainly not be
from a cafe operator but from officials of the Board.
“We are however waiting for his return to have a clearer
picture of what happened and the true position of things
and why he was arrested”.
When contacted, Benue State Police Public Relations
Officer, Assistant Superintendent of Police Moses Yamu,
said the matter was not reported at the state Command.
0 Comments
What is your opinion about this,leave a comment ,we appreciate comments