The Provost of Lagos State College of Health Technology (LASCOHET), Professor Raheem Akewushola, has condemned an alleged case of admission fraud in which a cybercafé operator reportedly defrauded a woman of ₦1.5 million under the guise of securing her admission into the college.
The case came to light after the victim (name withheld) petitioned the college when the promised admission failed to materialise.
According to a statement shared on the Lagos State Government’s official X account on Sunday, the complainant had initially paid ₦500,000 into the account of the suspect (name withheld) as part of the purported admission process.
When admission was not forthcoming, the suspect allegedly assured her she could attend classes later and even obtain a certificate. Dissatisfied, the applicant demanded a refund but was threatened.
“During the interrogation of Mr. Arapatile by the Management of LASCOHET, led by the Provost, Professor Akewushola, he confessed to the allegation levelled against him, stating that the admission was not for LASCOHET, but a professional body, CIMB, an association that he claimed to be a Liaison Officer for, but could not give the full name of the acronym.
“Upon preliminary investigation, stamp pads of some institutions were also retrieved from his shop while further investigations are still ongoing,” the statement read.
Professor Akewushola warned the public not to transact with the suspect, stressing that he is neither a staff member nor an authorised agent of LASCOHET.
“Our administration has zero tolerance for such acts,” he said, vowing that the college would pursue every legal avenue to punish perpetrators.
In a related development, the Acting Vice-Chancellor of Nnamdi Azikiwe University (UNIZIK), Awka, Prof. Carol Chinyelugo Arinze-Umobi, disclosed that the school has begun a crackdown on admission racketeering.
This followed disciplinary action against a staff member (name withheld) accused of fraudulently collecting ₦400,000 from a prospective student’s mother with the promise of securing admission into the Faculty of Medicine.
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