The Executive Secretary of Tertiary Education Trust Fund, Sonny Echono, has described as alarming the number of Nigerian university lecturers studying abroad under TETFund sponsorship and have absconded.

Echono, who disclosed this while speaking with journalists during the TETFund Management retreat held in Makurdi, Benue State, on Monday, said that the board would make the absconded lecturers refund money spent on them or be repatriated.

He said that TETFund devised the two ways, which he described as soft and hard measures, to ensure that the university lecturers who absconded are sanctioned.

He said, “I don’t want to give figure because it’s alarming it’s very sad that this opportunity that is being given is being abused.

“The figure is comprehensive. That is why it’s a bit large because there are others who have come back home but did not complete the minimumof their bond before deciding to relocate or what is calledjapa syndrome.

“We have database now, which weare refining each time because the institutions are the one submitting the report. Although it is a difficult thing to get accurate report but for some, it’s not that they absconded but they exceeded their course period.

“Butsome have extension in their programme but we have a very good idea and the number is not encouraging and I can tell you that even the security agencies are also becoming interested and they are looking at that.”

Speaking on the sanctions, he said, “What we are doing, first as a soft landing, we are requiring anybody who have benefitted from our programme and do not come back to make the full refund of the money expendedin training them.

“The other option which is the harder one is that we are collaborating with our embassies, the embassies of the country where they are and the institutions.

“You will have recalled recentlywhen I met with foreign institutionsthat will sponsor our candidate. I made it a condition for further patronage that those of our scholars that went to such institutions and did not return, that theymust provide that information to the relevant authorities to their own equivalent of their internal affairs because they’re staying on visas that have not expired or did not permit them to seek employment.

“This means that they have abused their visa and they are subject to migration that is the next step we are going to take and we believe they will do the honourable thing and take the first option.”

He further said that TETFund had disbursed over N400 billion to tertiary institutions in the country. (The PUNCH: Text, Excluding Headline)