Woman arrested, 700 students under investigation for counterfeiting Abia Poly reciepts

June 1, 2017  

By Ijendu Iheaka

A woman who worked at a business centre near the Abia state Polytechnic has been arrested and charged to court for counterfeiting the school’s receipts.

The Abia State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Geoffrey Ogbonna told newsme in Aba on Thursday that the woman’s name was Caroline Augustine.

The Business centre, the Police said is owned by Mr Alwell Nwachukwu-Njoku, a lecturer at the Polytechnic.

Ogbonna said that Caroline was arrested by the school authorities and brought to the police stressing that she has been charged to court by the police in order to ensure her due prosecution. 

 The Acting Rector, Abia State Polytechnic, Prof Ezionye Eboh while briefing newsmen on the development on Thursday said that over 700 students obtained fake receipts from such unauthorised sources.

He said that the students numbering over 700 involved in the act were being investigated while the school has written to suspend the lecturer who owns the business centre suspected to be issuing the fake reciepts. 

Eboh said that the institution had no intention of letting the students go scot-free because unless they were punished to serve as deterrent, other students would not desist from such acts.

He said that when management which had made it compulsory for students to show their fee receipts before sitting for their exams discovered the counterfeiting, it suspended the first semester exams on 18, May, 2017.

The Professor of Management remarked that they asked students with fake receipts to go pay their fees if they wanted to sit for the exams before resumption of the exams on March 31.

He said that from March 18 to March 31, the school realised N43 million from students who faked the school’s receipts which would have been lost if they had not had the courage to act.

 Eboh who spoke also on the issue of re-assignment of 10 nurses out of 12 working in the school’s clinic, said their reassignment was an intervention from Governor Ikpeazu who counselled against sacking them.

“If it was not for the intervention of Governor Ikpeazu, we would have sacked them but he said they should be retained but re-assigned to places where their services would be needed”, Eboh said.

The Acting Rector said that the employment of such senior nurses in a large number was mind-boggling in a non-residential campus adding that they drew salaries as huge as that of a university professor.

He said that with the reassignment, the institution was saving N34 million per annum.

He stressed that with monies they have realized so far from plugging loopholes, they have paid five months salaries noting that the Polytechnic is only owing workers one month of 2016 salaries.