Sokoto govt denies neglecting medical student in Russia, calls it a scam

The Sokoto state government has reacted to claims of abandoning a scholarship student schooling in Russia after it was revealed that the student was about to be deported over the failure of the state scholarship board to pay his tuition fees.

The ordeal of the student named Usman Yahaya was shared online over the weekend generating criticism for the government. Yahaya, a student of Irkutsk State Medical University (ISMU) alleged he was detained at a Russian immigration camp at Angarsk Irkutsk, by authorities of the European nation’s Immigration and about to be deported over the nonpayment of his overdue school fees.

The state governor, Aminu Tambuwal while reacting to the report described Yahaya’s claims as a scam. He condemned the media for rushing to publish Yahaya’s story without investigating, inferring that it was not possible for someone being held in detention to send out a series of recorded videos.

Shedding more light on the issue, a former chairman of Sokoto State Scholarship Board, Hassan Mohammed Rabah, confirmed that Usman Yahaya had a five-year scholarship to study medicine at a Sudan University, from 2014 to 2019. But, after a year in Sudan, Yahaya came up with an application to transfer his studies from Sudan to Russia.

His application was said to have been approved by the then commissioner for education provided it will be at no additional cost to the state government after he had spent one year in Sudan. On getting to Russia, he had to spend one year learning the language, meaning two years were already gone. At the end of the five-year scholarship, he started coming up with different stories to get money from his sponsors.

Rabah explained that one time, Yahaya lied about being sick and needing money to undergo two stages of surgery, which was approved. Another time was when he started sending ”fictitious letters” requesting money, which was later discovered was not from his university.

He explained that a fellow student from Sokoto State confirmed that, he saw Usman Yahaya, who claimed to be in detention, two days ago, at the University Sports Complex. Yahaya is also said to have gotten married to a Russian woman whom he has issues with and desperately needs money.

The government said they have gotten in touch with the school and he is still in the university, with a semester to go, and they are pleading with the governor to settle his remaining fees of four thousand eight hundred dollars, which he (the student) put at twelve thousand Dollars.