Achievers University, Owo, Ondo State, has uncovered a massive school fees fraud involving present and former staff members, students and external collaborators, with over N457.5 million allegedly diverted through a hacked students’ payment portal.
In a bulletin issued to the university community, the Acting Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Oyesoji Aremu, disclosed that investigations revealed that 320 students paid their school fees into a personal bank account instead of official university accounts, while the payments were fraudulently cleared on the institution’s portal.
According to the university, the fraud affected the 2023/2024, 2024/2025 and 2025/2026 academic sessions.
Prof. Aremu said the fraudulent scheme was allegedly masterminded by one Olanike Mary Asabia, an alumna of the Department of Accounting of the university, who was later employed in the bursary department before resigning in April 2025.
He explained that the suspect allegedly received a total of N457,508,645 from 320 students through her personal account and thereafter manipulated the university’s payment portal to grant the students financial clearance despite the institution not receiving the funds.
The Acting Vice-Chancellor stated that many of the students were reportedly lured into the arrangement through offers of discounted fees and commissions.
The university further disclosed that 11 staff members and 34 students acted as agents for the suspect by recruiting students into the fraudulent scheme.
“One external person working at the Federal Medical Centre, Owo, was also indicted as having served as agent of the fraudulent activities,” the statement added.
The university noted that the fraudulent activities had been ongoing for some time before they were discovered a few days ago, leading to arrests and ongoing police investigations.
Achievers University had earlier, on April 14, announced the commencement of a comprehensive students’ fees payment audit exercise requiring all students to appear before an investigative panel with evidence of payments made into official university accounts.
According to the institution, the audit exercise for current students was concluded on Friday, May 22, 2026.
The university management directed all affected students to immediately repay their full school fees into designated university accounts, warning that normal penalties for late payment would apply.
In addition, the 320 indicted students and six students identified as agents will face the Students Disciplinary Committee to explain their involvement and why they bypassed established payment procedures.
Similarly, the 11 implicated staff members are to appear before the Senior Staff Disciplinary Committee, while the alleged mastermind remains under police investigation for possible prosecution.
The university also announced that the fees audit would be extended to students who graduated within the last two academic sessions in a bid to determine the full extent of the fraud.
Prof. Aremu stated that the university council had approved “absolute transparency” in the handling of the investigation and dissemination of information in order to curb rumours and misinformation.
Management, he said, is determined to recover all lost funds and prevent a recurrence of such fraudulent activities, while appealing to staff and students for cooperation throughout the ongoing investigation and recovery process.
Culled from ROVING REPORTERS
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