Alleged Fraud: Presidential Amnesty students protest at Novena University over fake admission
By Emmanuel Adigwe
Hundreds of students of the Presidential Amnesty Programme studying at the Novena University, Ogume in Delta State, Friday, protested against the school authorities for alleged fraud and other related issues.
According to a GbararmatuVoice correspondent who was on ground to witness the event, the students who are mostly from Gbaramatu kingdom lamented that the amnesty scheme of the federal government has been hijacked by some persons in the area and irrespective of their financial commitments, they have not been fully assimilated into the system.
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GbaramatuVoice recalls that as part of the federal government’s plans to reduce unrest in the Niger Delta, it floated a student amnesty programme both in Nigeria schools as well as foreign universities so that the restive youths will be fully equipped in terms of education and otherwise.
However, it appears that the federal government’s aim is being truncated as some students were admitted into the scheme through “the backdoor” after paying huge sums of money to the concerned authorities.
It is this set of aggrieved students that stormed Novena University on Friday calling for the school authorities to look into their claim and make them bonafide students of the academic institution since they have already made enormous financial commitments which the school has also accepted.
Speaking with a GbaramatuVoice correspondent, a student and leader of Gbaramatu students in the university, Patrick, stated that the issue had been a lingering issue which involved more than 10,000 students and 425 students from the Gbaramatu Kingdom.
According to him, some students paid N150,000, N250,000 and even N900,000 to an Ex-militant (name withheld) just to get admission into the university through the programme and also the management of the school has not been transparent with the students.
Patrick said: “Since we have been in this university, there has been a lot of trouble and as time unveiled, the promises which we were told about of we been under the university are all fallacies. They have shown us that they are lying. They gave us original school fees receipts, in hundred level first semester but in 200 level first semester, they retrieve the original school fees receipts and gave us fake school receipts.”
Patrick disclosed that the university is playing on the intelligence of the students as a document was issued to the students where they are made to sign that they won’t acquire their certificate after graduation.
According to Patrick, some students have unfortunately signed the forms.
The student leader lamented that the federal government did not recognise them as amnesty students and described them as “backdoor merchants” which makes them “unverified students” in the amnesty scheme.
Patrick also pointed out that the management of the school and the self-acclaimed Militant General are together in the scheme to dupe the students of their hard-earned resources and the affected unverified students are over 3000.
The Vice Chancellor of the institution who later joined the students resisted speaking to the press but his efforts to call for a dialogue with the students proved abortive.
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