AfriPulse
Management of the College of Nursing and Midwifery Jalingo in Jalingo, Taraba State, has dismissed allegations circulating on social media that it extorted ₦5,250 from students benefiting from the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND).
Reports that recently went viral online had claimed the college made it compulsory to deduct ₦5,250 from each student who benefited from the loan scheme before the funds were released.
The claims were widely shared across social media platforms, with some posts reportedly originating from handles believed to belong to students of the institution.
Reacting to the claims, the Provost of the college, Dorcas Dungule, described the allegations as false and misleading, insisting that the management had not authorised any illegal deduction from students’ NELFUND disbursements.
Speaking with our correspondent in her office, she accused those spreading the claims of attempting to tarnish the reputation of the institution.
She said:
“The attention of the college management has been drawn to a social media post, attributed to one Abdulmumin Iman, the publication is circulating on social media platforms which attempts to attack and discredit the reputation and integrity of the college administration regarding the disbursement of funds under the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND).
“The public is hereby informed that the allegation is misleading and does not reflect the true situation, as the report appears to have been made without proper verification or engagement with the college authorities. At no time was the management of the college contacted by any media organization for clarification on the matter before the information was circulated to the public.”
*Investigation Underway*
Dungule, further, revealed that following the circulation of the claims, the students allegedly involved were invited for a meeting with the management.
“Following the circulation of the claim, the students concerned had an interface with the college management. During the interaction, some of the students affirmed having knowledge of the write up and they were the ones who’s phones were collected in other to verify their involvement which was found to be true that they have accused the management of extortion.
“The college has taken the matter seriously and appropriate investigations are currently ongoing by relevant authorities to ascertain the facts.”
The provost clarified that the payments being referenced online relate to mandatory academic and clinical training materials required for nursing students.
According to her, the required items include:
₦4,000 – Clinical Logbook
₦2,500 – Record of Instruction (balance)
₦4,000 – Entrepreneurial Logbook table used during entrepreneurship training to monitor students’ progress
₦1,500 – Administrative and bank charges
She confirmed that payment for these materials forms part of the clearance process required before students can receive their loan disbursement.
“These required materials amount to ₦12,000 in total, which every student is expected to pay. It should be noted that these materials are not produced by the college, but are supplied directly by the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria, Abuja, as part of the standard training requirements for nursing students nationwide, as soon as a student provide clearance that he or she has paid for the materials, the funds will be disburse to her.”
Dungule urged the public to disregard the allegations, stressing that the charges are legitimate academic requirements that apply to all students, whether they are beneficiaries of the NELFUND scheme or not.
She added that both NELFUND beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries are expected to pay for the statutory training materials as part of their academic programme.
Source: NationalAccordNewspaper | Read the Full Story…
