Achievers University in Owo, Ondo State, has announced the completion of its Students’ Fees Payment Audit, revealing that some staff and students defrauded the university of N457,508,645.00.

The university identified that the perpetrators hacked into the students’ payment portal and deceived 320 students into transferring their fees to a female employee’s personal accounts, after which they cleared their bills on the university portal to obtain financial clearance.

Prof. Oyesoji Aremu, the acting Vice-Chancellor, shared this information in a statement issued on Monday. He explained that the investigation covered the 2023/2024, 2024/2025, and 2025/2026 academic sessions and required each student to appear before an inquiry committee.

The statement read in parts, “The exercise has revealed that the fraud was masterminded by a female worker, an alumnus of the Department of Accounting of our university, who was later employed to work at the university bursary. She resigned from the services of the university in April 2025.

“The fraudulent activities affected three academic sections: 2023/2024, 2024/2025, and 2025/2026 Academic Sessions and 320 students paid a total sum of N457,508,645:00 school fees into the personal account of the said lady, who in turn fraudulently cleared such students on the portal without the university receiving the money. Many of the students were lured to pay into her account by the offer of discounted fees/ commission.

“Eleven members of staff and 34 students were used as agents of the said female worker to ‘recruit’ students for the fraudulent activities. One external person working at Federal Medical Centre Owo was also indicted as having served as an agent of the fraudulent activities.”

The head of Achievers University stated that the 320 students implicated in the case, along with the six students who served as agents, will be required to appear before the students’ disciplinary committee. They will need to explain to university authorities what led them to ignore the established fees payment protocols.

“The 11 members of staff who infamously acted as agents for the said mastermind will also face the senior staff disciplinary committee, while the said mastermind is under police investigation for subsequent prosecution.”

He also mentioned that the students’ fee payment audit will proceed, with all payments from students who graduated in the last two sessions being thoroughly reviewed.

“We have the approval of Council to exhibit absolute transparency in handling the investigation and dissemination of information to the university community, so as to eliminate rumour mongering and misinformation,” the statement concluded.