JUDICIARY
JAMB parades own Staff for Extorting Admission Seekers
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has paraded two of its staff members who extorted money from Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) candidates with the promise to help them secure university’s admission.
The affected staff; Mr Andy Okoro- a level 12 officer in Delta State JAMB’s office, said he collected N500,000 from four candidates’ parents, out of which he paid N180,000 to a colleague, Gambo Ibrahim Abba, to help facilitate their admission.
The bubble burst when one of the parents in Delta State petitioned JAMB on Okoro’s activities, a move that prompted the Board to open up a deep investigation into the issue.
Okoro told newsmen on Monday evening in Abuja that he engaged in the fraudulent act because of economic hardship.
A mild drama, however, ensued when his accomplice, Gambo, who had earlier claimed he was into fish business with Okoro, later admitted that his involvement in the act might nor be “ordinary.”
Gambo, a level 8 officer at JAMB headquarters, said he was probably hypnotized by Okoro to engage in the shady deals, adding that he only got to know him by phone last year through a third party.
“It was not ordinary, he was just calling me, I don’t know him, he lured me into this when he convinced me that he has been into it for a long time,” he lamented.
Registrar of JAMB, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, who expressed surprise that the affected staff defied the Board’s zero tolerance for corruption, vowed to ensure they face the full wrath the law.
” Anybody who engages in sharp practices, no matter who the person is, shall not be protected by the Board because the Board has zero tolerance for corruption,” the JAMB boss said.
Prof. Oloyede called on parents and candidates not to allow anyone collect money from them on the guise of helping to secure admission to their choice institution as the system is now fully automated.
His words : “The admission exercise into tertiary institutions has been automated, therefore anybody working in JAMB or anybody who has good calculation, who knows what admission process is, can predict who can be admitted because it has been automated.
“What is happening now is that people know those that will be admitted, because they know by the automation this person could be admitted, and they now go and be extorting the parents of those that have already been slated for admission.
“We need to let the public know that there is no halfway to admission, nobody should bribe or give any amount to anybody whether they are JAMB staff or they are not JAMB staff. Anybody who solicit money from any parent, the parent should inform the Board.”
Meanwhile, a tutorial centre operator has landed in trouble for collecting N6,500 registration fees from would-be UTME candidates.
Bayo Olajide, who owns Perfect Tutors centre in Koroduma, Oneman Village, Nasarawa State, was said to have engaged in the act even when JAMB was yet to commence sales of form for the 2021 exercise.
“He has been collecting money from candidates in the name of 2021 UTME registration, and you all know we have not commenced the registration.
“He was arrested and when asked, he claimed he is a tutorial person, that he has been teaching candidates for the exam, but the tragedy of the story is that himself is not even qualified to sit for the exam.
“These tutorial centres are used to collect money from candidates and perpetrate exam malpractices.
“Parents should know there is no shortcut to success. He is collecting N6,500 from candidates even when the JAMB fee is not even up to that amount,” JAMB’s Head of Media, Dr Fabian Benjamin, said.
Bayo, who revealed that his highest academic qualification was” O Level”, admitted receiving money from only one person,
He said of the N6,500 he collected, N4,700 was for the anticipated registration JAMB fee while charges for lecture and others account for the balance.
JUDICIARY
Court Remands Landlord for Alleged Defilement of Tenant’s Daughter
A family court sitting at Iyaganku, Ibadan, on Tuesday ordered the remand of one Musibau Lamidi, 50, for alleged defilement of his tenant’s six-year-old daughter.
The Magistrate, Mrs S. A . Adesina, ordered that the landlord should be kept at the Agodi custodial facility pending advice from Oyo State Director of Public Prosecutions.
Adesina did not take the landlord’s plea.
She adjourned the case until April 25 for mention.
Reports says that Musibau, a resident of Olode, Ibadan, was charged on one-count of defilement.
Earlier, the prosecutor, Insp Gbemisola Adedeji, told the court that the defendant, on March 13, between 8. 00 a.
m. and 4.00 p.m. defiled his tenant’s daughter.Adedeji said that Musibau had an issue with the child’s mother and asked her to pack out.
The prosecutor said that when the woman went to look for a house to rent, the defendant defiled her daughter.
She said that the offence contravened Section 34 of the Oyo State Child Right’s
Law of 2006. (NAN)
JUDICIARY
4 Friends Docked for Allegedly Threatening Cleric’s Life
Four friends were on Monday docked in a Grade ‘A’ Customary Court in Ibadan for allegedly threatening the life of pastor Charles Gold.
The police charged Olatunji Musibau, 44;Abiodun Folarin, 50; Kazeem Oluremi, 60 and Yusuf Sodiq, 23, with conspiracy and conduct likely to cause breach of peace.
The Prosecution Counsel, Mr Philip Amusan, told the court that the defendants allegedly committed the offence on March 8, at about 2 p.
m., at New Bodija Area in Ibadan.Amusan alleged that the defendants and others at large, threatened violence against pastor Gold, of Echo Evangelical Ministry Ibadan.
He said the offence contravened the probisions of sections 516 and 383 of the Criminal Laws of Oyo State, 2000.
The defendants however pleaded not guilty to the charge.
The Court President, Mrs Moji Aworemi, admitted the defendants to bail in the sum of N150, 000 each and one surety each in like sum.
Aworemi held that the surety must be a blood relation to the defendants.
She adjourned the case until April 29, for mention. (NAN)
JUDICIARY
2 Teenagers in Court for Allegedly Stealing Sewing Machine
Two teenagers, Simor Aaron, 19, and Francis David, 18, were arraigned on Wednesday before a Kaduna Chief Magistrates’ Court for allegedly stealing a sewing machine and other items worth N325,000.
The defendants, both residents of High-Cost Narayi, Kaduna, are standing trial on a two-count charge of conspiracy and stealing, to which they pleaded not guilty.
The Prosecutor, Insp Chidi Leo, told the court that the defendants committed the offences on March 11, at Barnawa Kaduna.
According to Leo, the duo burgled a tailoring shop of one Gladys Peter and stole her sewing machine, six wrappers, and four clothing materials all valued at N325,000.
The prosecutor stated that the defendants were caught and handed over to the police by members of the vigilante group on patrol in the area.
Leo said that the offences contravened Sections 281 and 217 of the Penal Code of Kaduna State, 2017, which stipulates a three-year jail term for stealing and two years imprisonment for conspiracy.
The Magistrate, Ibrahim Emmanuel, granted the defendants bail in the sum of N100,000 each with two sureties each in like sum, who must be gainfully employed.
Emmanuel adjourned the case until April 22, for hearing. (NAN)