A LECTURER of the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Kadiri Akeem Babalola, has been accused of raping a 20-year-old female student.
Babalola, an Associate Professor of the University, was accused by the female student of perpetrating the act on August 16, 2023, when she visited his office to sort out issues concerning her results.
An X user, Deji Lambo, disclosed on Wednesday, September 6, that the case was taken up by a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), the Inclusive Social Welfare and Empowerment Foundation (ISWEF), and Babalola confessed to perpetrating the crime.
“InclusiveSWEF reported the case to the Gender Unit of the state police command, and through the OC Gender, the state CP, Idowu Owohunwa, issued a warrant of arrest for Babalola through the state High Court and involved the Vice Chancellor, UNILAG.
“The VC was given seven days to produce Babalola, and when the VC invited the randy lecturer for questioning, InclusiveSWEF said he admitted to committing the crime. The VC informed the police through the school’s Chief Security Officer, and Babalola was arrested,” Lambo posted.
Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) Benjamin Hundeyin shared Lambo’s post on the incident via his X handle on Wednesday. He wrote that the accused would “appear in court in the coming days.”
Sexual harassment has been a recurrent issue in Nigerian universities, and female students are mostly the target.
On Monday, August 15, female students of the University of Calabar Law faculty staged a protest within the school premises against sexual harassment and intimidation by Dean Cyril Ndifon.
The students carried placards that read, “Law students are not Bonanza, Prof. Ndifon should stop grabbing us. The Faculty of Law is not a brothel,” “Ndifon must go for our sanity,” among other inscriptions.
The University suspended Ndifon on August 17, his second suspension for sexual harassment since 2015, when he was accused of raping a final-year student. .
Some lecturers in other departments within the school were also named by students, including Frank Enor, Otora Agbor, Elvis Okorn and Okoi.
At the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra state, two lecturers were also accused of sexual harassment by an anonymous student.
Ijeoma Opara is a journalist with The ICIR. Reach her via vopara@icirnigeria.org or @ije_le on Twitter.