The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has uncovered a bank account operated by a foreign national allegedly used to collect payments from Nigerians seeking to obtain a questionable six-week bachelor’s degree abroad.

The discovery was announced by ICPC Chairman, Dr. Musa Adamu Aliyu, during a stakeholders’ advocacy event on asset tracing, recovery and management held Tuesday in Abuja.

The event was organised by the Centre for Fiscal Transparency and Public Integrity (CeFTPI), with support from the Inter-Governmental Action Group against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA).

“Within some weeks, we were able to discover that a foreigner opened an account in Nigeria while Nigerian students were paying money into the account to obtain that six-week degree,” Aliyu revealed.

“We were able to track the account and obtain a civil forfeiture order. We have been trying to ensure that the culprits are brought to book, especially those that are beyond our shores.”

He called for greater synergy among anti-corruption agencies to ensure that perpetrators of financial crimes are not allowed to enjoy the proceeds of their actions.

Also at the event, Chairman of the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB), Dr. Abdullahi Bello, disclosed that an ongoing audit of over 10,000 public servants’ asset declarations has revealed that about 20 percent of them are false.

On a broader continental scale, the Director-General of GIABA, Edwin Harris, lamented the growing trend of illicit financial flows out of Africa.

Citing a report by former South African President Thabo Mbeki under the auspices of the UN Economic Commission for Africa, Harris noted that while $50 billion was previously estimated to be lost annually, the current figure now stands between $88 billion and $94 billion.

CeFTPI Executive Director, Umar Yakubu, said the event brought together key stakeholders from anti-graft institutions, civil society, the judiciary and international partners to develop innovative mechanisms for transparency, citizen engagement and accountability in asset recovery efforts.

A police officer in Ibadan has shot and killed a student who was heading to the examination centre to sit for the ongoing West African Senior School Certificate Examination being organised by the West African Examination Council (WAEC) in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.

The incident happened on Gbagi market road in the Egbeda Local Government Area of the state when a stray bullet allegedly fired by a police officer in pursuit of a suspect hit and allegedly killed the student on Tuesday.

Investigations revealed that the boy was on a motorcycle with his father and twin brother when the incident struck.

The student, according to multiple eyewitnesses, was on his way to the examination centre.

An eyewitness, simply identified as Ajani, said, “A police officer opened fire while chasing a fleeing vehicle.

One of the bullets reportedly hit the student. The student was riding on a motorcycle with his father and twin brother.

“The victim was immediately rushed to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

Another witness said, “The deceased was on his way to the examination centre alongside his twin brother when the tragedy happened.”

Meanwhile, irate youths took the student’s lifeless body to the state Secretariat, Agodi, Ibadan, to demand justice and called on Governor Seyi Makinde to intervene.

The deceased body has been deposited at Adeoyo Hospital morgue.

As of press time, authorities have not released an official statement on the incident.

A Nigerian Army soldier attached to Operation Udoka has been killed by suspected members of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra after sneaking out of his duty post to attend a party in Anambra State.

The incident was said to have occurred on the evening of Saturday, May 18, 2025, at the Forward Operating Base in Uli.

It was gathered that the soldier had attended the event — a strippers’ party titled “Ladies’ Jamboree” — while wearing his military camouflage uniform.

According to reports, the soldier was discovered missing during a tactical operation.

The report said, “It was during a tactical operation that it was discovered the soldier was missing.

He was later found to have sneaked out of the base without permission to attend a strippers’ party at a nearby hotel, in uniform. It was there that he was accosted and fatally shot by suspected IPOB/ESN fighters.

His lifeless body, along with that of a baby, was later recovered at the scene by troops.

“His weapon has been retrieved and is currently in military custody.

”Operation Udoka is a Defence Headquarters-led operation and efforts to reach the Director, Defence Media Operations, Maj. Gen. Markus Kangye, were unsuccessful.

His phone number was switched off, and he had yet to respond to a message sent to him as of the time of filing this report.

The killing is the latest in a series of targeted attacks on security personnel in the South-East region, where IPOB and ESN have been accused of carrying out violent campaigns against state forces.