Fake WAEC Agent Arrested in Anambra

VINCENT UJUMADU reports:


A middle aged man who allegedly specializes in luring students from public secondary schools to register for the May/June West African School Certificate, WASC, examinations at the special centres has been arrested by the police in Anambra State.

It was gathered that the principal of Our Lady's Secondary School, Nnobi, in Idemili South local government area had to complain to officials of the Post Primary Schools Service Commission when he discovered that most of his students who had enrolled in the school since their Junior Secondary School, JSS 1, were not interested in paying their WAEC and school fees for their SSS3.

On investigation, the school authorities found out that a special centre agent, whose name was given as Mac Eze, believed to be a fake name, was at work.

The fake WAEC agent was said to have visited Our Lady's Secondary School, January 25, and talked the students into believing that his special centre would assure them of good grades in the May /June WAEC examinations whether they read or not.

No sooner did he finish brainwashing the students than 200 final year students chose to register in his centre, with more promising to bring money later. A teacher in the school said the surprising thing was that the magic centre agent was collecting three times the official fee for WAEC and the students were paying. Students in many schools in the local government were also said to have paid him.

It was not clear at press time where the special centre is located; although previous experience had shown that such agents sometimes carry the students beyond the shores of the state where they were made to pay for accommodation and feeding and special funds for sorting WAEC officials.

The matter was subsequently reported to the Nnobi police station where the said Mac Eze is being detained pending further investigations. At the police station, Mac Eze was found to be in possession of five fake identity cards bearing different names. One of the identity cards saw him dressed as lawyer, one as an engineering student in one of the universities, another one as a naval officer, another as an army officer and yet another one as lecturer in a Polytechnic in Anambra State.

Legal officer of Post Primary Schools Service Commission, Mr. Peter Elioku said in a statement in Awka that the commission had made it known to the police of its interest in the matter, adding that the commission had pleaded with the police to assist it in getting to the root of the matter.

"We want the police to investigate this matter diligently so as to ascertain the extent of damage the magic centers were doing to education in the country by the young man and his group. We hope that the young man and others with him will be prosecuted after the investigation," Elioku said.

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