Ekene Franklin, the Best student in JAMB Examination, 2019 has cried out for help, asking the government to help, as he’d not want to sit at home for a year, despite having the highest score in this year’s UTME.

Though Ekene is still hopeful that something can be done to avert him losing out in forthcoming admission exercise.

“I know it is their law and, if it is the will of God, something can done to change the situation. I know I cannot change the law on UNILAG admission criteria. But I hope someone can come to my aid on this age issue,” says hopeful 15 year-old Ekene.

“Initially, I wasn’t aware of the UNILAG law which states a student must be 16 years old. Based on that I picked UNILAG as first choice. It is the university law, no one is above it. If I don’t get support from government or JAMB on the age issue, I may wait for next year to write another UTME but if I get scholarship I will accept it. I prefer scholarship that will enable me travel abroad.”

Ekene, speaking exclusively to Daily Sun, said his focus is to get a scholarship and go abroad to study Chemical Engineering at MIT.

The 15-year-old student from Imo State, who is currently writing the May/June 2019 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), says if he does not get admission or a scholarship, he will prepare for another UTME next year.

”But I don’t want waste my high score,” he said.

According to him, he was expecting to be among the ten highest scorers in the UTME and that he prepared for the Matriculation examination like other candidates.

In the just released UTME results, Ekene emerged the highest scorer with 347, with the following subject scores: Englis, 78, Mathematics, 91, Physics, 86 and Chemistry, 92.

In new reports, two Nigerian men who are said to be members of an internet love scam syndicate, have been charged in Singapore with recruiting local women to collect money for them.

According the police, such scams where victims part with cash after a fraudster feigns romantic interest in them are a growing concern in the city-state with police reporting 660 cases last year.

The Nigerians have been identified in local news reports as Oladayo Opeyemi Awolola, 34, and Gbolahan Ayobami Awolola, 37 – they were apprehended by Malaysian authorities in Kuala Lumpur last month and sent to Singapore on Monday.

The men allegedly recruited two Singaporean women “as money mules to receive criminal proceeds linked to internet love scams in Singapore” between 2017 and 2018, according to a police statement.

The women received Sg$85,700 ($63,000) during that period and turned the money over to syndicate members in Malaysia, police said.

The Nigerians could be jailed for up to five years each and fined if convicted. It is the first time that suspects based overseas are involved in internet love scams have been arrested and sent to Singapore for prosecution, police said.

Most of the internet love scams reported last year in the city-state involved fraudsters claiming to have sent parcels containing luxury items or money.

Their local accomplices would call the “recipients” and claim the parcels were being held by the authorities for inspection, and would only be released if they transferred money to a bank account.

A young man working at a building site in Ikirike, Enugu South Local Government Area of Enugu State, reportedly died on Monday after an underground foundation collapsed on him.

The incident happened near Ikirike police station in Enugu. The deceased has been identified as Chidera from Ngbo, Umuogudu oshia, in ohaukwu local government area of Ebonyi State.