Babcock expels for drug peddling, student mother declared missing who sauntered back home after sneaking out of campus on his own
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Oladipupo Siwajuola has finally been expelled from Babcock University, Illishan Remo in Ogun, the consequence of his sneaking out of campus on his own last month, over which his mother Fijabi Oyindamola Omotayo raised a false alarm on Facebook about the boy having gone missing.
Oladipupo was expelled for engaging in fetish practices and drug peddling, among other infractions, according to a statement issued by Babcock Marketing and Communication Director Joshua Suleiman, who had in May provided some background of the boy’s misconduct besides the one that led to the mother’s outrage.
Oladipupo’s disappearance was announced on Facebook on May 3 by Omotayo who demanded the whereabouts of her son and alleged negligence by Babcock.
Investigation by the school showed that he left campus voluntarily without authorisation.
The school threatened to institute a lawsuit against the mother over her “sensational and misleading” social media outburst.
Suleiman explained in his latest statement that Oladipupo had deliberately left campus in May without clearance and disguised himself in a hoodie to sneak out through the university’s teaching hospital gate.
He recounted that upon Oladipupo’s return to campus on May 15, he was invited by the Department of Secret Service (DSS) where he confessed to several acts of misconduct against the guidelines of Babcock.
“Among them was the purchase of black soap from a traditional herbalist for N100,000, which contradicted his mother’s earlier claim that she had given it to him to treat a skin condition,” Sulaiman said.
“Siwajuola admitted that the soap was intended for ritual purposes, as part of a “Yahoo Yahoo Plus” scheme, a slang term for internet fraud mixed with fetish practices.
“He revealed he was engaging in fetish practices in an attempt to get rich quickly.
“He also confessed to drug peddling, borrowing N500,000 from an online loan app to fund gambling, and impersonating another student to open a bank account.”
Suleiman noted that Oladipupo sold his phone without authorisation and misled the buyer by claiming that his father consented to the sale.
He disclosed that it was the mother of Sodiq, the parent of a friend he stayed with in Lagos, who discovered his presence in their home and alerted Oladipupo’s family after noticing the growing online controversy, contradicting Omotayo’s claim that her son was found by his secondary school friends.
Investigations by Babcock found Oladipupo liable for multiple offences, including “unauthorised exit from campus, possession and use of fetish materials, drug peddling, impersonation and dishonesty, and unauthorised sale of personal property.”
The school said it had no choice but to expel him in line with global best practices.
“While we recognise the emotional weight of this decision, especially for the family involved, our foremost responsibility remains the safety and moral integrity of all students entrusted to our care.”
Babcock expressed displeasure with the mother’s public outcry but backed down from plans to take her to court.
“These claims were not only false but also misleading. However, because of the responsible conduct shown by the student’s father, the university will not pursue a libel case at this time.”
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