The Management of the Rivers State University has said a man identified as Phillip Odereghi, who was arrested on Tuesday for allegedly defrauding job seekers of huge sums of money, is not an employee of the institution.
Odereghi, who allegedly swindled no fewer than 15 persons with a fake promise of giving them employment in the school, had claimed that he was a worker of the university to elicit their confidence.
Some of his victims who saw him at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital after several months, confronted him, but their attempt to take matters into their own hands was thwarted by the hospital’s security personnel who promptly intervened and handed him over to the police.
Some of his victims said he collected between N250,000 to N450,000 from them to give them employment in the state-owned institution which they later realized was a scam.
But the Registrar of the University, Dr Sydney Eyindah, in a statement described Phillip Odereghi as a dangerous impostor, saying his claim of being a staff of the school was outright falsehood.
While noting that the university was not recruiting, Dr Eyindah said RSU concluded its employment as approved by the state government in 2022.
The statement reads, “The attention of the Rivers State University, Nkpolu-Orowororukwo, Port Harcourt has been drawn to a news item on Tuesday 17th October 2023 wherein one Phillip Odereghi was apprehended by the Nigeria Police for defrauding unsuspecting job seekers.
“The said Phillip Odereghi had claimed to be a staff of the Rivers State University. This is therefore a disclaimer to inform the general public that Phillip Odereghi is not a staff of our University and cannot act on behalf of the university.
“He is a dangerous impostor and has no relationship whatsoever with the Rivers State University.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the university has since last year concluded its employment exercise as approved by the Rivers State Government. The general public is advised to be apprehensive of such characters as Phillip Odereghi so as not to fall prey to fraudsters.”
