UNIBEN lecturer arraigned for receiving bribefor student’s transferFORMER Assistant Dean, Faculty of Law,University of Benin, Mr. Isu-Ochiora Okogeri, hasbeen arraigned before a Benin High Court forallegedly accepting a bribe to facilitate the transferof a female student to the Faculty of Law of the university. The university teacher is being charged on a one-count charge for enriching himself as a publicofficer by receiving N100,000.00 from oneOmoluwabi Elogho with a promise to effect hercourse transfer to the faculty of law, an offencepunishable under Section 98(b)(11) of the criminal code. First Prosecution Witness (PW1), EdosegheOghogho Idahosa who is the head of theintelligence unit in the security department of theuniversity, led by the state counsel, KennethUgiagbe while giving evidence in the case NoMCK/94C/2013, said the accused person committed the offence on December 31, 2012. He told the court that the accused person, who wasalso a member of Intra-Faculty Transfer Boardrequested and received the alleged sum of moneyfrom the prospective student, who wanted to betransferred from the Faculty of Arts to the Faculty ofLaw. The witness added that following intelligentreports, his team advised the female student to playalong, just as he said that the student informed histeam that the lecturer had asked her to bring thecash to him in his faculty office instead of payingthe said money into a bank account. He further told the court that his surveillance teamclosely monitored them to the faculty, where theaccused person asked the female student to boardhis SUV and dropped her off near the main gate ofthe school, where he (witness) ordered the securityofficers at the gate to stop all the out-going vehicles, as the lecturer was being monitored. According to him, “I confronted the accusedperson over the said money allegedly given him bythe female student and pleaded with him thatsearch be carried out on his vehicle. He becameshocked and dumfounded. I also cleared the wayto enable him park his car at the security office which he rebuffed and sped off. ”The witness further stated that they pursued himwith a motor bike to where he went to drop thesaid money in the exhaust pipe of an abandonedtruck in the fuelling station inside the school anddrove off from the scene, unknown to him that hewas closely monitored. The security officer also told the court that havingengaged the accused person in a hot chase, he waslater apprehended near the fire service stationinside the campus and taken to the security post forinterrogation, where he obliged statement. The security officer further said N17,000 wasrecovered from him and the said N 100,000 wasrecovered from where he had earlier hidden it. The case was adjourned to August 21.