Lagos Assembly Invites Commissioner, State University VC, Others After SaharaReporters’ Report On Certificate Racketeering

 

The Lagos State House of Assembly on Tuesday deliberated on SaharaReporters’ report on certificate racketeering at the state university (LASU) and invited the Commissioner for Tertiary Education, Tolani Akibu, and the school’s vice-chancellor, Prof. Ibiyemi Olatunji-Bello, among others.

SaharaReporters on Monday reported that in 2020-2021, a sting operation spearheaded by the school management at the time and the Department of State Services (DSS) exposed certificate racketeering in the school and succeeded in getting confessions from some members of the syndicate.

Sources in the DSS told SaharaReporters that the sting operation which was highly detailed and included the use of body cameras and other gadgets started in 2020 and culminated in the arrest and grilling of a few members of staff.

Some of the members of the syndicate who wrote confessional statements at the DSS in Lagos include Muyideen Zubairu, Daniel Amos, Olowu Abiona, Akindele Qudus Tunde, Oyebanji Olumide Ezun, Tajudeen Abayomi Olumoko, Hammed Ayofe Mutalib, and London Oghenemaro Vincent.

“The certificate racketeering syndicate has genuine Lagos State University certificates that anyone interested can purchase for between N2 million and N3 million, depending on the technicality of the course involved,” one of the sources had said.

 

“Once they have their client, the only things they will ask from the client are money and their O-level certificate. They check the number of credits you have. That will determine the course they will recommend. As professionals, they know the course you should do or the degree you should go for once you have this or that. Once that is settled, they have members of the syndicate in the ICT department of the school who will input the person’s date into the server. They collect the money and input all your scores, and after, it will be posted on the server of the university.

 

“Once you go to the school's server with the matric number generated for you, you get the name and details of the student there as an authentic student.”

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, the state House of Assembly which described the issue as a ‘matter of urgent public importance’, also invited the school’s Senate and workers in its Information and Communications Technology unit.

The Speaker of the House, Mudashiru Obasa, who is an alumnus of the school, in reaction to the motion moved by Owolabi Ajani, said the reputation of the school was at stake.

SaharaReporters learnt that during the sting operation, money was paid separately and at different times to Daniel Amos and Akindele Qudus Tunde for two degrees, one in Industrial Relations and Personnel Management.

 

Amos charged N2 million for the Industrial Relations and Personnel Management degree for one Adewoye Michael – whose O-level result was used but he was already a graduate of another school at the time. Within three days, the profile of Adewoye Michael including a newly generated matric number and fake results from Year 1 to final year had been uploaded on the school’s server.

 

For the other candidate, Okowi Cosmos – also a graduate of another school at the time – whose O-level results were used in the sting operation, the bill was N3 million because the course of interest – Business Administration – was rated as more technical and complex.

Narrating how they went about it, one of the security sources said, “Later, we explained that we needed to get another certificate from them. So we presented another O-level certificate but we were told that another group would handle it since it was not Industrial Relations and Personnel Management. That was how we met Qudus, a non-teaching staff member.

 

“After we met with him, he gave a bill of N3 million and the then-VC (Prof. Fagbohun) who was saddened by the development and eager for us to bust the syndicate provided N1 million as an advance payment to give to the group to lure them in.

 

“There were body cameras and so on. We worked together as a team then and the school’s security team was also part of the operation.

 

“True to their word, they did it and everything was posted on the school’s server. It was ready for clearance by the Senate of the school; that was when we arrested those people. They spent some time in custody and made damning statements that indicted top-ranking members of the university.

 

“Some of those indicted are now professors. One London Oghenemaro Vincent was the head of those responsible for inputting the fake profile and results into the school’s server. He was a guru in it; he also fingered a top-ranking staff member that we tried hard to arrest but couldn’t because he was well-connected.

 

“Anyway, we found out that the ICT department of the school was very corrupt and there are still elements there today who were part of the certificate racketeering.”

Meanwhile, the school swiftly denied allegations of a cover-up.

Mrs. Oluwayemisi Thomas-Onashile, Coordinator of the LASU Centre for Information and Public Relations, in her reply to SaharaReporters’ inquiry, said, “Sometimes, in the year 2020, the University discovered an incident of admission racketeering involving some of her staff and, in conjunction with a private agent, instituted an investigation on the matter.

“Consequently, the University wrote a petition to the Department of State Security (DSS) for further investigation, and the university gave full cooperation for the investigation.

“Afterwards, the DSS forwarded their report of investigation to the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Lagos State Ministry of Justice, Alausa, for advice, and we were reliably informed that the DPP and the DSS are still working on the matter.

 

“Nonetheless, we are aware that the agent who worked with the University in investigating the matter is the same agent writing a petition against the university to the Governor of Lagos State, insinuating a cover-up by the University.

 

“We state unequivocally that the University under this current administration of Prof. Ibiyemi OLATUNJI-BELLO is not covering up any person or group of persons.

 

“In fact, to the best of our knowledge, investigations are still ongoing, and the University is fully cooperating with the law enforcement agencies and officers in the investigation. The allegation of a cover-up by this administration is not true.

 

“It is important to reiterate that the University has given full support to the DSS so far. Therefore, the insinuation that the University did not want the success of the investigation is not tenable. A representative of the University was still at the DPP’s office last week on the matter, and the outcome of the meeting is being worked on."