Lady faces expulsion from varsity over certificates forgery by APC chapter chairman

Etim Ekpimah

A Nigerian lady, Miss Ben Joy Samuel, has cried out to Nigerians to come to her rescue over fake certificates.

Samuel, then a student at the Blessed Hope Comprehensive College, Ikot Atong in the Ika Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State, sat for her West African Senior School Examinations in 2014.

According to her, when the certificate was released, they informed her and asked her to come to school for the collection of her original certificate with N15,000.

She said: “I sat for WAEC in 2014 at Blessed Hope Comprehensive College, Ikot Atong, Ika Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State. When the certificate was released, they called me to come for it; Mr John Joseph was a staff of the school, then.

“I am from Ikot Esu, Ika LGA. Joseph told me that the cost for the collection of the certificate was N15,000. I sent the money to him so that when I come to the village, I will collect it in person.

“When I went to school, I noticed that the certificate had been issued without my letter of authority to the school.

“Showing the report, ‘Look at what he gave me as an original certificate. When I took the certificate to my school, University of Port Harcourt, for screening, I almost got arrested as the school authority told me that the certificate was fake.

“In the process, I got back home and had him arrested and taken to the Police Headquarters in Akwa Ibom State, Ikot Akpanabia, Uyo.

“He was released without my consent because the Police said the Minister of Oil and Gas, Honourable Ekperikpe Ekpu called for his release; they released him without my consent.”

She explained that after the man’s release, she went back to him to demand her original certificate, but to her surprise, he told her to spend the night in his house before he could give her the original certificate.

“The police did what they did, I did not know how they were compromised by the minister. Yesterday, they asked me to come for my certificate and this is the second one, also fake. I got this from the police. The police asked me to sign and collect it as my original certificate. I refused to sign because I was curious about it.

“Joseph is the APC chapter chairman of Ika Local Government Area. He is also a senior aide to Ekpu.

“Now he is telling me that I can go to wherever I want to go and that I don’t have any right over him as he has backups. He boasted that wherever I take him to, he will come out.

“He is saying this because he knows I have nobody to stand for me. I sat for the exam myself, I sponsor myself in the university. I’m fighting this battle alone; he has seen that I have nobody. I have missed my certificate clearance twice, I cannot graduate. Please, I’m appealing to the public, to help me ask him where my certificate is so that I can go for clearance.

“The WAEC officials warned me not to take this fake thing anywhere, else I would be arrested and prosecuted,” she said.

The Police Public Relations Officer, Akwa Ibom State Command, SP Odiko Macdon, said the police would issue a statement concerning the matter either today or tomorrow.