Nigerian students at the National University of Radio Electronics, Kharkiv, Ukraine have rioted against the school’s Nigerian representative whom the students alleged defrauded them of thousands of dollars during the admission process.
Charity Luba Consultancy, which arranges Nigerian students for admission in the above school, was accused of not remitting all the fees the students were supposed to pay the school and even doubling the school fees for some of the students. Students who called THISDAY on phone and later sent emails disclosed how they were allegedly defrauded by the company.
One of the students narrated how his return ticket was not paid in full and how the company took twice the amount of school fees he paid to the school.
“I paid $4,250 as school fees to the company although some other students paid $7,000, but we found out that the school fee was $1, 500; some other students also paid $2,000 with plan to complete it at arrival in Ukraine. We have also paid her commission even before we left Nigeria to Ukraine, but when we approached her she insisted that the school fee was that amount, but when the matter got to the dean of the school she said the school fees was $1,500 and her commission was $2,750 which she never told us existed and we have already paid her over N300,000 for her services in Nigeria which included visa processing and $200 we contributed at the airport for transporting us to our respective schools and those students that paid her $2,000 she paid half of their school fees which is $750 and now they are looking for ways to complete their school fees.”
Another student also disclosed, “I paid N258,000 for one year return ticket, on getting to Kharkiv, Ukraine I logged in my ticket online to find about the expiration of the ticket then I discovered that the ticket was to expire on March 19, instead of September 2011, and that the naira value of the ticket was N204, 000 instead of the N258,000 that I paid, but when I complained to her (Charity Luba) about it she said I shouldn’t worry; that she would handle the issue, which she never did.”
The Managing Director of the company, Charity Luba, when interviewed by THISDAY on phone denied the allegations by the students and said that some of the students were yet to pay their fees.
“There is nothing like that. I did not cheat anybody; rather I even have to allow some of them that have not paid their fees. I found out that they want overseas studies but they do not have money for it. I have made sacrifices and have helped many of them, so the allegation is not true,” Luba said.
The students admitted that few of the students did not complete their school fees, but noted that it should not be the excuse to defraud all of them.
“Yes some people did not pay her the school fees and they have already paid her for her services for visa etc; she just wants to be felt pity for. They students that did not pay may be two or three of them that I know, but no matter what she may claim, she duped more students and made so much money. Imagine collecting two times the school fees from students and some that paid her $2, 500 she is still asking them to complete the payment to her?”
Not able to put up with what the students called exploitation and cheating, on Thursday last week the students made attempt to mob Charity Lube, the managing director of the company when she arrived the aforementioned school but the secretary to the head of the school, Aliona Leonidovna, rescued her, prompting the Nigerian students to start a violent agitation.
The students said that things would have got out of hand but for the timely intervention of the president of Nigerian community in that city, simply known as Dr Wilson.