By Godwin Oghre

Sapele—The timely intervention of the Divisional Police Officer of Sapele Area Police Command, Delta State, Mr. Kenneth Akubue, and his men, saved a middle-aged man, an Assistant Accountant in Sapele Local Government Education Authority, Mr. Austine Erhurhu, yesterday, from being lynched by over 200 irate primary school teachers of the council.

The aggrieved teachers, who claimed to be members of a co-operative society, which they called, Staff Multipurpose Co-operative Society,  had dragged the accountant from his office at Sapele council on  New Ogorode Road in Sapele to the Sapele Police station, a distance of over three kilometres, where they insisted his arrest, as they alleged that he embezzled their over N2million, due to them as loans from the co-operative.

It took the police over an hour to calm the teachers, as many of them were continuously shouting, arrest and jail him, he has embezzled our combined funds, until  the police were able to rescue him from been lynched.

The teachers, led by Mrs. G. Osikorobia and the Secretary, Mr. Austine Ologhoejebi, told Vanguard that Erhurhu was chairman of the Staff Multi-purpose co-operative society from 2007 to March, 2012, until he was impeached due to what they described as “offence of gross financial impropriety and refusal to conduct Annual General Meeting for seven years that he held sway in the co-operative.”

They also alleged that  Mr. Erhurhu had also refused to render account of his chairmanship to the body and equally sidelined other executives and members of the body from taking part in important decisions affecting the body and its finance.

They further alleged that their ex-chairman had obtained a loan of N1.8 million from the bank without the knowledge of other executives and members of the body, and that the embattled exchairman had been ded ducting sundry sums from their salaries for the past seven years without given loans to members as required by their constitution.

The teachers have also alleged that following what they perceive as Mr Erhurhu’s profligation of funds of the co-operative they have sent a number of petitions against to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission EFCC, in Asaba and Port-Harcourt and that the agency was yet to effect his arrest.

-Vanguard

Posted by admin on Jul 12 2012. Filed under Headlines. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry