 has arraigned the former Registrar of the Benue State School of Health Technology, Agasha, Mr. Awuawe Terwase Clement, over allegations of N4.4 million admission fraud.){kind=link}
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has arraigned the former Registrar of the Benue State School of Health Technology, Agasha, Mr. Awuawe Terwase Clement, over allegations of N4.4 million admission fraud.
Mr. Clement was arraigned on Tuesday before Justice Egbe Joshua Raphael at the Federal High Court 2 in Makurdi. He is accused of collecting and diverting N4,466,500 from prospective students who purchased admission forms after the official sales had closed.
In the three-count charge filed by the ICPC, the former Registrar is also accused of providing false statements during the investigation, an offence under Section 25(1)(a) and punishable under Section 25(1)(b) of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act 2000.
One of the charges reads: “That you, AWUAWE TERWASE CLEMENT (m) between 2018 and 2019 at Guma Local Government Area of Benue State, while being a Public Officer as the Registrar of School of Health Technology Agasha, used your position to confer corrupt advantage upon yourself by collecting N4,476,500 from prospective students after the closure of admission form sales, for your personal use.”
Mr. Clement pleaded not guilty to the charges. Following his plea, defense counsel Mr. Kelvin Iorzenda applied for bail on behalf of his client. The prosecution counsel, Mr. T. S. Lorngee, did not oppose the bail application.
Justice Raphael granted Mr. Clement bail in the sum of N2 million, along with one surety of the same amount. The surety must be a public or civil servant, either at the federal or state level, and is required to provide documentation, including their first appointment letter, last promotion, identity card, passport photographs, and an affidavit of means.
The case was adjourned to December 12, 2024, for hearing.