….Registrar, Acting Works Director Report To Police
Top management staff of The University of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, UAES, Umuagwo, are in trouble as they are telling men of the Nigeria Police Command, NPF, Imo State Command what they know about the alleged removal of office property and equipment belonging to the Imo State Polytechnic, Imopoly, Umuagwo.
Trumpeta learnt that based on a petition to the Commissioner of Police, CP, Imo State Command, raised by the Imopoly Alumni Association over the incident, police invited the top officials.
Those involved and telling police what they know about the incident at the CID, Owerri command office are the Registrar of the UAES, Prince Edward Njemanze and Mr Anthony Ogbuehi, Acting Director of Works.
Imopoly Alumni Association, in the petition through their lawyer sent to police authorities titeld; Re: Breaking and Entry, Destruction and Removal of Properties of Imo State Polytechnic Alumni Association By One Mr Anthony Ogbuehi” had alleged that the accused Ogbuehi was instructed by an authority to allegedly commit the act which has seen office items and property of the Alumni Association including computers, refrigerators, photocopying machines, office tables, chairs and others running into millions missing.
This newspaper was informed that the Imo State Polytechnic management which for years used the Umuagwo campus where the UAES is located, granted the Alumni of the institution the right over a piece of land in the premises of the school as obtained in other institutions of higher learning. The Imopoly Alumni was granted the leave to construct, own, manage and superintend structures it built in the school premises in this regard.
When the Umuagwo campus was made UAES and the Imopoly moved to Omuma, the Imopoly Alumni had audience with the pioneer VC of the school, Prof Patrick Egbule. The management of the UAES was informed that the Imopoly Alumni building in Umuagwo was built by personal donations of the members. The pioneer VC informed the Imopoly Alumni that a committee would be set up for a “workable condition and terms” which didn’t see the light of the day until he was removed.
The incumbent VC, Prof Eze who came in since last year couldn’t act on the agreement his predecessor had with the Imo Poly Alumni before the Alumni office keys were destroyed and opened leading to the carting away of the aforementioned property by one of the management staff named.
Efforts to reach management of the UAES proved abortive as non of the top staffers was willing to speak on the matter except for one who pleaded anonimity to confirm that police invited their management on the matter at the State CID headquarters, Owerri.
According to the source, while the petition fingered Ogbuehi as the architect of the incident, Trumpeta was informed that the management through the VC reportedly wrote to the police to claim of the knowledge of the incident adding that the acting works director acted on their behalf.
The position of the school management prompted the police to invite the Registrar, Njemanze and suspect, Ogbuehi for interrogation on the matter.
When Trumpeta contacted the police, no officer was willing to talk on the outcome of the investigation.