Tag: SNAKE

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB has debunked claims that snake swallowed N36 million in its office in Benue State, saying it was a case of criminality and fraud carried out by one of its staff.

Stories have gone viral on the internet claiming that snake swallowed N36 million at JAMB office in Makurdi, Benue State.

A statement issued by JAMB on Monday by its spokesperson, Franklin Benjamin said it was a pure case of criminality and fraud by one of its staff and that there was no snake anywhere to have swallowed the money.

He said a sales clerk, Philomina Chieshe, told JAMB registrar and his team that she could not account for N36 million she made in previous years before the abolition of scratch cards.

He said in the course of interrogation, Philomena denied the allegations that she stole the money but confessed that her housemaid connived with another JAMB staff, Joan Asen, to “spiritually” (through a snake) steal the money from the vault in the account office.

Benjamin said “It is natural for the office to account for what they have after the sale of scratch cards has been stopped and we discovered that lots of money was missing in Markurdi and other offices.

“There are procedures in the civil service, so the whole thing is still under investigation. She was queried, she appeared before disciplinary committee, although she confessed that money was missing and a snake swallowed it.

“Unfortunately, she is calling one Joan’s name which did not appear in the investigation at all. Joan only recommended a house help for her. Of course, the management did not believe the story. She is just trying to put an excuse forward.

“These are things the Registrar is trying to unravel to put the board on the right footing. We had a case where one of the staff said he had an accident on his way and the scratch cards got burnt but only for us to discover that they were used because they all had serial numbers,” he said.

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board said on Sunday that it had suspended its employee, Philomina Chieshe, on account of N36m which was reported to have been swallowed by a snake in the board’s office in Makurdi, Benue State.

The JAMB Head of Information, Fabian Benjamin, told newsmen yesterday that the board was taking her through other disciplinary measures while security agencies were investigating the matter.

It was learnt that Chieshe explained in her statement that a “mysterysnake” sneaked into JAMB accounts office and made away with the N36m cash.

The money was said to be from the purchases of scratch cards from JAMB state offices and other designated centres.

A team of auditors was said to have been dispatched to different state offices of JAMB to take inventory of sold and unsold scratch cards and recover the generated money.

The woman reportedly told the team that she could not account for N36m made in the previous years before the abolition of scratch cards.

However, in the course of interrogation, Chieshe reportedly changed the narrative, saying that it was her housemaid who connived with another woman, Joan Asen, to “spiritually steal the money” from the vault in the accounts office.

Meanwhile, it was learnt that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission had begun investigation into the matter following a recommendation by the Federal Executive Council late last year that JAMB should be investigated.

The Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, who briefed council about the performances of some government agencies last year had said JAMB for the first time remitted N5bn to the government’s coffers with a promise to pay the balance of N3bn compared to maximum N3m remitted yearly in the last 40 years.

A strange snake is said to have sneaked into the accounts office of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) in Makurdi, Benue State, and made away with N36 million cash.

Before now, JAMB candidates purchased scratch cards from JAMB state offices and other designated centres, to gain access to the Board’s website for either registration or to check their admission status.

But the reforms introduced by JAMB registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, recommended an end to the use of scratch cards.

A team of auditors was dispatched to different state offices of JAMB to take inventory of the sold and unsold scratch cards and recover whatever money that might have either been generated or mismanaged during the period of the sale of scratch cards.

On their visit to Makurdi office, a sales clerk Philomina Chieshe told JAMB registrar and his team that she could not account for N36 million she made in previous years before the abolition of scratch cards.

In the course of interrogation, Philomena confessed that it was her housemaid that connived with another JAMB staff Joan Asen to “spiritually” steal the money from the vault in the accounts office.

She said: “I was one of the four sales clerks attached to JAMB office in Makurdi. My responsibility was to sell scratch cards to candidates and not involved in handling the revenues. It was the responsibility of Joan Asen and my other senior colleagues. I only remit money when am done selling the cards.

“Few months ago, there was issue of fraud in the Makurdi office. Auditors were sent from Abuja to carefully flip the record books of the office, to perhaps, ascertain the current state of affairs.

“The state Coordinator, Obilo, was not around when the audit team came. But in the course of the audit, N36 million was discovered to have been missing from the account. An investigation was launched. In the course of the investigation, it was discovered that Joan Asen, who is account staff, and a lady outside JAMB, had connived to steal the money.”

Philomina said Asen and her accomplices confessed that they had been stealing the money “spiritually” through a mysterious snake that always sneaked into the office to swallow the money from the vault.

“It was a mystery to me too. I have been saving the money in the bank, but I found it difficult to account for it. So I started saving it in a vault in the office. But each time I open the vault, I will find nothing. I became worried and surprised how the millions of Naira could be disappearing from the vault. I began to interrogate everybody in the house and office, and no one could agree on what might have happened to the money. I continued to press until my housemaid confessed. She said that the money disappeared “spiritually”. She said that a “mysterious snake” sneaked into the house and swallowed the money in the vault.”