Over 940 students of the Modibbo Adama University of Technology, Yola, have been defrauded of over N30m varsity school fees by a corps member serving in Zamfara State,identified as Fidelis Chalokwu.
The students risked being restrained from sitting for the second semester examination. The affected students were considered ineligible by the bursary department of the university to sit for the examination because they had reportedly not yet paid their school fees.
According to the Students Union Government of the institution on Tuesday, preliminary investigations into the N30m school fees fraud linked to Chalokwo, a former student of the university, now performing his NYSC programme in Zamfara, of executing 70% of the fraud.
“More than 70% of the students swindled of their school fees said they paid to Fidelis Chalokwo, who is now performing his Youths service corps programme in Zamfara,” said Abubakar Lawan, the SUG Vice-President.
He added that Chalokwu who was wanted to account for his crime, claimed he had left the country. The SUG VP said the varsity believed the suspect was still in the country and in Zamfara.
The Dean, Student Affairs, MAUTECH, Yola, Dr. Haruna Lawan, said over N30m was involved, adding that most of the students, instead of using their ATM cards to make the payments, gave cash to the online vendors who turned out to be fraudsters.
He said the least of the school fees involved was N30,700, while other victims of the scams paid as much as N37,800 in school fees which never hit the school account.
