Posted on: 09:47 Sat, 02 Jul 2016



It was the end of the road for
Mohammed Opeyemi, who owned
an internet cafe on the premises of
Kwara State Polytechnic in Ilorin,
Kwara State.

Opeyemi, who was arrested by the
security personnel of the
institution, had for a long time
been allegedly forging fees
clearance documents for the
graduating students of the school.

Narrating how the culprit was
apprehended on Wednesday, the
Rector of Kwarapoly, Alhaji Mas’ud
Elelu, said the suspect was caught
with a stamp and signature
specimen of the approving officer
of the audit department of the
institution.

Elelu, who is also the Chairman,
Council of Heads of Polytechnics
and Colleges of Technology in
Nigeria, described the action of the
suspect as an economic sabotage
and a dent to the image of the poly.

According to him, Opeyemi was
later handed over to the police for
interrogation and possible
prosecution. He added that after
investigation, any student or staff
that is an accomplice of the culprit
would be punished.

Elelu said, “We caught him through
our intelligent network. We caught
him with some of the stamps and
documents he had forged.

He had stamps of the audit
department and even the signature
of the man in audit that normally
signs the document.

“That audit paper is always
presented before certificates are
signed. The procedure is that at the
end of payment by graduating
students, there is verification, after
which the audit department will
certify.

It is the paper from audit that is
attached to the application sent to
Exams and Records and then the
calligrapher will now write the
certificate and send it to the
Registrar; then it will come to me
as the final person that will sign.

“The document and signature of the
person who certifies that a
particular student has paid at the
audit department are what
Opeyemi used to forge. He has the
stamp and the signature and we
caught him. We have handed him
over to the police. They are
investigating.”

Elelu said Opeyemi’s cafe had been
shut down and that investigations
were on to arrest his accomplices.
“The certificates that have been
signed or to be signed by him have
been stopped,” he added.

The Kwara State Police Public
Relations Officer, ASP Ajayi Jeffrey,
said the police was committed to
arresting fraudsters, including
those who engage in forgery.

He added that after investigations,
the police would ensure that the
culprit was prosecuted. He urged
people to desist from any criminal
indulgence, adding that the law
would catch up with people of
questionable character in the state.