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Poly students kidnap colleague, collect N2.2m ransom in Ekiti

Published

3 years ago

June 27, 2021

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Operatives of the Rapid Respond Squad (RRS) of the Ekiti State police command have arrested a fourteen-man gang of kidnappers over the abduction of a student of the Crown Polytechnic, Ado-Ekiti.

According to reports, the student, identified as Akiode Akinyemi, was kidnapped in his hostel last week Saturday around 10am and was whisked away to unknown destination.

The state police spokesman, ASP Sunday Abutu, said the abductors demanded N2.2 million as ransom from the family of the victim, which he said was paid into eight different bank accounts.

He explained that the operatives of the command upon receiving the information swung into action and arrest all the fourteen suspects in connection with the crime, among which ten were students of the polytechnic.

“All the suspects arrested have confessed to the commission of the crime and stated that the two million, two hundred thousand naira (N2,200,000) collected as ransom before releasing the victim was shared among them,” the PPRO said.

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Abutu, who disclosed that the suspects would soon be charged to court after completion of investigation, said the Commissioner of Police, Tunde Mobayo urged residents to support the security agencies with timely and accurate information towards getting rid of criminal elements in the state.

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UPDATED: Tinubu appoints Jim Ovia as chairman of education loan fund

Published

2 hours ago

April 26, 2024

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President Bola Tinubu has appointed Jim Ovia as the chairman of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND).

Ajuri Ngelale, presidential spokesperson, announced the appointment of Ovia, chairman of Zenith Bank, in a statement on Friday.

Ngelale said Tinubu believes that Ovia will bring his immense wealth of experience to ensure that no Nigerian student suffers a paucity of funds in the quest for tertiary education.

On April 3, Tinubu signed the student loans amendment bill into law to provide Nigerians with quality and accessible education.

The law will allow Nigerian students in tertiary institutions to access low-interest loans for tuition and other academic needs.

Subsequently, the president appointed Akintunde Sawyerr as the managing director and chief executive officer (CEO) of the fund.

Tinubu also appointed Frederick Oluwafemi Akinfala as the executive director of finance and administration, while Mustapha Iyal will serve as the executive director of operations of NELFUND.

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JUST IN: Tinubu appoints Jim Ovia as chairman of education loan fund

Published

4 hours ago

April 26, 2024

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President Bola Tinubu has appointed Jim Ovia as the chairman of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND).

Ajuri Ngelale, presidential spokesperson, announced the appointment of Ovia, chairman of Zenith Bank, in a statement on Friday.

More to follow…

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ICPC detains TETFund boss ‘over questionable N7.6bn project’

Published

8 hours ago

April 26, 2024

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The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has detained Sonny Echono, executive secretary of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund).

Demola Bakare, ICPC spokesperson, confirmed the development on Friday.

Bakare said that Echono was invited by the anti-graft agency on Thursday.

“The executive secretary of TETFund is here with us. He has been invited for questioning. He is still in custody. He was invited yesterday.” Bakare said.

“He was invited on Thursday. He has not been released. He’s still with us. Investigation is still ongoing.”

It was earlier reported that TETfund awarded two contracts to Fides Et Ratio Academy and Pole Global Marketing (PGM) within two months at the cost of N3.8 billion respectively without the approval of the federal executive council (FEC), which is required for the contract size.

The contract was to provide capacity building course and learning management systems to about 2 million students across higher institutions in the country.

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In a rejoinder, TETFund said it did not award N7.6 billion contracts to two companies without due process.

The agency said it was wrong to say they were contracts, whereas they were ICT projects implemented under a memorandum of understanding (MoU) which doesn’t require competitive bidding in public procurement.

TETFund further said its disbursement guidelines were approved by the president on the recommendation of the “Fund’s Board of Trustees and concurrence of the Honourable Minister of Education in line with the TETFund Act 2011″.

In an interview with TheCable, Echono said there was no form of irregularity in the N7.6 billion project.