The Lagos State Police Command has arrested a 26-year-old banker, Daniel Makanjuola, for using a cloned West African Senior School Certificate and Lagos State University’s statement of result to secure employment at the Wema Bank Plc, Marina branch, on the Lagos Island.
The police said Makanjuola had paraded himself as a degree holder in marketing with Second Class, Upper Division, before his arrest.
He was also said to have tendered a forged National Youth Service Corps discharge certificate and a reference letter to the bank. He claimed to have obtained the letter from United Bank for Africa, his purported former workplace.
PUNCH Metro learnt that the suspect, who hails from Ijero Local Government Area in Ekiti State, had joined the bank in 2013, before he was sacked in July 2015 after the documents were confirmed to be fake.
It was gathered that the fraudulent act was discovered after the management sent a letter to the UBA to verify the genuineness of the reference letter. The UBA was said to have denied knowledge of Makanjuola and the letter.
Our correspondent learnt that the discovery prompted the bank to write West African Examinations Council and LASU, which also disclaimed the results. The suspect was arrested after the case was reported at the Lion Building Police Station.
The bank’s Public Relations Officer, Emela Esohe, said Makanjuola owned up to the act before a disciplinary committee.
The suspect, in a statement he made to the police, also confessed to the crime and explained how he obtained the forged certificates.
He said he resorted to the act to alleviate the poverty in his family, adding that it was one Vincent who helped him to get the reference letter.
He said, “I am actually a National Diploma holder. I secured the fake WASCE and LASU results, using a search engine and CorelDraw application. I scanned an NYSC certificate and used some applications to edit it. I did it in order to put an end to the suffering of my poor family. I am the only son of my father. I want the authority to be compassionate with my case. I was only trying to live a better life.”
A police prosecutor, Inspector I. Okeke, arraigned Makanjuola at a Tinubu Magistrate’s Court on three counts of forgery.
The charges read in part, “That you, Daniel Makanjuola sometime in September 2013, at Wema Bank, Marina, Lagos Island, in the Lagos Magisterial District, did forge West Africa Senior School Certificate, dated December, 2005 with candidate number, 5250209357 and certificate number, ASSCP 3841537.
“That you forged notification of final year examination result 2008/2009 academic session from LASU with reference number, LASU/E&R/405, dated March 11, 2010 and use it to secure employment at Wema Bank Plc.”
The accused pleaded not guilty to the charges before the presiding magistrate, Mr. A. Adefulire.
Adefulire admitted him to bail in the sum of N100,000 with two sureties in like sum. He adjourned the case till October 22, 2015.
