Woman Defrauded of ₦1.5m in Fake Admission Scam at Lagos College.

A cybercafé operator has been accused of defrauding a woman of ₦1.5 million under the guise of securing her admission into the Lagos State College of Health Technology (LASCOHET). The development has drawn condemnation from the institution’s Provost, Prof. Raheem Akewushola.

The case came to light after the victim, whose identity was withheld, petitioned the school when the promised admission failed to materialise.

According to a statement released on Sunday via the Lagos State Government’s official X handle, the suspect, identified as Mr. Arapatile, initially collected ₦500,000 from the woman. Subsequent payments eventually brought the total to ₦1.5m.

When admission did not go through, Arapatile allegedly assured the victim she could still attend classes and receive a certificate. Upon her demand for a refund, he reportedly threatened to silence her.

During interrogation, the suspect admitted to the allegations but claimed the payment was for admission into a professional body, CIMB, where he claimed to be a liaison officer. However, he failed to provide the full meaning of the acronym. Investigators also recovered stamp pads belonging to different institutions from his shop.

Prof. Akewushola cautioned the public against dealing with Arapatile, stressing that he is neither a staff member nor an authorised representative of LASCOHET.

“Our administration has zero tolerance for such acts,” he said, adding that the college would pursue every legal avenue to ensure justice is served.

In a related case, the Acting Vice-Chancellor of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Prof. Carol Chinyelugo Arinze-Umobi, disclosed that the institution had begun cracking down on admission racketeering. She revealed that a staff member had already been sanctioned for allegedly collecting ₦400,000 from a parent under the false promise of securing a medical school admission.