The Registrar, Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board,
Prof. Is-haq Oloyede, said the board lost more than N10 million in 2020 to
fraudsters.
Oloyede told newsmen at the board’s headquarters on
Wednesday in Abuja that the fraudsters penetrated the board’s payment portal
for ad-hoc staff.
He said that the money, which was meant to pay JAMB Adhoc
staff from the 2020 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, was hijacked by
the suspected fraudsters.
Oloyede, however, said that the board investigated the
illegality, tracked, and finally apprehended 10 of the suspects in Kaduna,
Nasarawa, and Abuja.
“We did not ask anyone to apply to be an ad-hoc staff on the
site, we had already chosen them through recommendations from various agencies.
“We only created the site just to pay them via a code that
was assigned to them.
“However, these suspects gained access to the site, deleted
the original account details and phone numbers, and inserted theirs.
“We paid N20, 000 each for accommodation per night and N100,
000 for flight tickets, depending on the location of each staff to go and work
for that period.
“The payments ranged from N200, 000 to over N300, 000 per
person. Yet, these suspected fraudsters after gaining access to the websites
also inserted details for their family members.
“They didn’t go to partake in the exercise but ignored the messages sent from our domain.
“One of them, Saidu Zubairu collected over N3.7 million for
himself because he inserted the account details of his mother, sisters, and
other family members.
“We have not calculated all the monies they all have so far
received but altogether, the amount will definitely sum up to more than N10
million.
“We have already paid the original owners, though it took us
over a year to track the suspects, we finally apprehended them and I assure you
the law will take its cause.’’
Oloyede reiterated the board’s readiness to fight corrupt
practices in its system, adding that some of the illegalities had prompted
changes in the board’s mode of operations.
Mr Saidu Zubairu, one of the 10 apprehended suspects said
that he got the code for the site through his friend (presently at large) and
indulged others.
He said, “I succeeded in changing the original details in
the site and asked eight other friends of mine to do same and they confirmed
receipt of payment afterwards.”
Zubairu said that he added the details of 12 family members
to the site who were also paid above N300, 000.
He, however, pleaded that they are forgiven while promising
to reimburse the money if given sufficient time.
NAN
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