Forgery Scandal May Have Driven Registrar to Suicide, Loto Tells Coroner
Akure, Sept. 23, 2025 — Explosive revelations emerged at the Coroner’s Court in Akure on Tuesday as Professor Adolphus Loto, former Acting Vice-Chancellor of the University of Medical Sciences (UNIMED), Ondo, laid bare damning allegations of certificate forgery against the late Registrar, Mr. Ezekiel Imole Adeniran.
Prof. Loto, a Professor of Restorative Dentistry, testified that the deceased had paraded academic qualifications from institutions that later disowned him, including the University of Southern Queensland, Australia, which confirmed he was never their student and had not been awarded the diploma and master’s degrees he claimed.
“I sent an email to the University of Southern Queensland to verify the diplomas in Leadership and Management and the MBA he presented. They replied clearly that he was never their student. The documents he submitted were falsified,” Loto told the court.
He further testified that multiple Nigerian universities had also raised red flags about Mr. Adeniran’s academic and professional conduct.
Ajayi Crowther University confirmed that the Registrar’s appointment was terminated for gross misconduct after he allegedly altered a student’s result from Third Class to Second Class Lower.
Elizade University reportedly forwarded a damaging character report to UNIMED and the Department of State Services (DSS).
A visitation panel report of UNIMED, later adopted as a white paper by the Ondo State Government, concluded that the Registrar was a serial forger and recommended his dismissal.
Errors in Certificates
Under cross-examination, Prof. Loto disclosed that his initial suspicion was sparked when he overheard staff whispering about forged certificates. On retrieving the Registrar’s file, he noticed glaring anomalies:
The Registrar’s National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) year (2007) coincided with the year the Australian diploma was purportedly obtained.
The certificates presented carried grammatical errors, inconsistent fonts, and lacked serial numbers or certification codes.
When queried internally on June 13, 2025, Adeniran allegedly ignored the query and instead reported Loto to the Pro-Chancellor.
Why Police Got Involved
Despite the Pro-Chancellor’s instruction to wait until the Governing Council could sit, Prof. Loto said he escalated the matter to the police because forgery was a criminal offence beyond the powers of Council.
“If I conceal the fact, it will appear as if I am aiding a crime,” he told the court.
He confirmed that he personally wrote and submitted the petition to the Commissioner of Police on June 17, 2025 — an action taken at his own instance, not that of the university.
Ironically, the Registrar was expected at the State CID on July 17, 2025 to respond to the petition but never showed up. Instead, police received word later that day that he had collapsed, and by evening, he was confirmed dead.
The Dying Voice Note
The court also heard about a voice note allegedly recorded by the Registrar before his death, in which he complained of being forced to drink poison and reportedly mentioned names, including Loto.
While acknowledging the existence of the voice note, Prof. Loto downplayed it, insisting the deceased merely saw him as an “enemy” for pursuing the forgery allegations.
“I listened to the voice note and what I heard was: ‘If I come to this world again, I will not have anything to do with Loto.’ From that, it is clear he perceived me as an enemy simply because I stood for truth and justice,” he told the Coroner.
Loto’s Final Position
The professor maintained that all the evidence he gathered pointed to a man living on forged credentials and facing exposure.
“In my opinion, the weight of the reports against him could have pushed him into despair. But I had no hand in his death. My duty was to uphold the truth,” he said, before submitting a flash drive and hard copies of all documents, including university correspondences, petitions, and the government white paper, to the court.
Cross-Examination Highlights
Q: Who did you overhear talking about forgery?
A: I cannot pinpoint anyone.
Q: What specifically did you hear?
A: That the certificate he used to secure the Deputy Registrar post was false.
Q: What discrepancies did you notice between his NYSC and the Australian degree?
A: Both were dated 2007.
Q: What errors did you notice in the certificates?
A: Grammatical errors, different fonts, no serial numbers, no codes.
Q: Did he respond to your query?
A: No. He reported me instead.
Q: Why disobey the Pro-Chancellor’s directive to wait?
A: Because forgery is criminal and cannot be hidden.
Q: Was the petition at UNIMED’s instance or yours?
A: Mine.
