By Sylvester Idowu
Crack police detectives have arrested the Supervisory Councillor for Finance and Education, Sapele Local Government, Mr. Eric Ojuromu, and the Special Adviser to the Sapele Local Government Chairman, Joseph Okpereogho, for allegedly defrauding some primary school teachers from the council area through a fake screening exercise.
Ojuromu and Okpereogho, it was gathered, were allegedly caught in the act and arrested on Tuesday morning in the council premises by men of the State Police command and were immediately taken to Asaba where they are currently being detained.
Security sources disclosed that they were alleged to be counting to confirm the sum of N500,000 brought by one of the primary school teachers (name withheld) from Okotie-Eboh Primary School, Sapele, when the police swooped on them.
It was gathered that Ojuromu allegedly embarked on the fraudulent screening exercise by telling some of the primary school teachers, who are being owed months salary arrears, that they have fake certificates and allegedly demanded for varied amounts of money to cover for them without verification by the issuing authorities.
It was learnt that most of the victims of Ojuromu, though have genuine certificates but were afraid to confront him.
THISDAY gathered that luck however ran out of him and Okpereogho, when the teacher from Okotie-Eboh primary school, Sapele, who was confident of her certificates, summoned courage to petition the Police on the matter, after she appeared before the Ojuromu screening panel and was told she possessed fake certificates.
“With the Police working under cover, she took the sum of N500,000 demanded by Ojuromu to the council secretariat which led to their arrest.
Okpereogho, according to checks, just retired as a class room teacher.
Delta State Police Public Relations Officer, SP Celestina Kalu said she was yet to have knowledge of the arrest but requested for follow-up calls on details about the matter.
The Divisional Police Officer, Sapele Police Station, Badaru Musa on his part confirmed the arrest of Eric Ojuromu and Joseph Okpereogho by men of the force headquarters Asaba.
