Cotonou varsity VC forfeits N10.m over degree milling

A Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the interim forfeiture of N10.7m traced to the bank account of Togboui Gnadzo Soncy Koakli, the Vice-Chancellor of Ecole Superieure de Gestion et de Technologies (ESGT) in Cotonou, Benin Republic, for allegedly being proceeds of unlawful activities.

Koakli was prosecuted by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).

In an ex-parte motion filed by ICPC counsel Aniekan Ekong before Justice Binta Nyako, the commission alleged that the money, found in account number domiciled in Zenith Bank, was proceeds of degree racketeering.

Ekong, on Monday, informed the court how ICPC, while acting on intelligence, launched an investigation into alleged criminal conspiracy and degree racketeering involving the Cotonou-based university Vice-Chancellor and his agents, the promoters of Access Institute of Advance Learning (AIAL) supposedly based in Kano State, Mubarak Hamza Adam, and Abdullahi Shehu Yusuf, as well as one Abdulrahma Hadi Badamosi of the Federal College of Education, Kano.

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According to the prosecutor, the group was investigated for alleged involvement in issuing fake degrees to Nigerians for a fee.

He explained to the court that the group usually carried out their nefarious activities, stressing that the agents of the group were to collect money from Nigerians desiring to procure a degree from ESGT and share it with Togboui.

The prosecutor further stated that some of their victims paid in cash while others paid through bank transfers, as tendered before the court.

Justice Nyako, therefore, granted the request made by the ICPC for the interim forfeiture of the N10.7 million, including an order directing the publication of the said Preservation Order in a national newspaper calling upon any interested party to show cause why the forfeiture should not be made.

The Star