• Experts advise on how to avoid Baruwa
Is Akin Baruwa, the alleged rapist who defiled an 18-year-old admission seeker a University of Lagos (UNILAG) lecturer or an impostor?
Head, Information Unit of the university, Olagoke Oke, told TheNiche in a text message that “the university has set up panel to unravel facts including how he got access to the office”.
Our reporter’s inquiry was sequel to Oke’s initial assertion that Baruwa was not a member of staff of the university. “He also does not belong to the part-time or full-time teaching staff of the school. His name is not on the master list of workers of the university. I have checked the staff list using his full name and initials and could not come up with any such name.”
Though UNILAG disowned Baruwa, many believe that the university is being economical with the truth.
Questions of how Baruwa gained access to the university’s office which appeared fully equipped remained a mystery. The rapist’s familiarity with officials of the university also indicated that he was in a familiar terrain.
Or did Baruwa collect the key of the office from an original occupant and used it in perpetrating such an act? Who then is the third party?
UNILAG has to be forthcoming, observers say.
A reasonable number of rape cases happen in tertiary institutions by lecturers who are meant to provide mentorship, both academically and morally.
Folashade Ajayi, a relationship and sexuality expert, lamented that sexual harassment in institutions of learning has been rampant in recent years.
Her words: “Sexual harassment is unwanted sexual attention which most times results in different negative consequences. In tertiary institutions, this could result in different levels of injustice meted out to victims.
“Some female students have sometimes complained of sexual harassment in which the threat of the award of low grade is used by some unscrupulous lecturers to coerce them into sex.
“In other instances, male students have been accused of using threat of cult attacks to coerce some female students into sexual activity.”
Ajayi observed that university lecturers have been perceived as perpetrators of sexual harassment. “If a male lecturer is in love with any female student, the best approach is to wait until the lady graduates,” she said.
According to her, most of the cases of sexual harassment on campus is for negotiation. “Forced sexual negotiation takes place when a person in authority forces an unwilling female student into negotiation. It could be a lecturer who insists on sex for marks. The female student in question might not necessarily be weak in the course concerned, but she is made to feel that her destiny is in the hands of the lecturer and that she has no alternative but to agree. In such cases, negotiation is one-sided as the person in authority dictates the terms.”
She proffers some advice to students. “Students should be familiar with the security system on campus. Don’t walk alone at night. The majority of rape cases involve someone the victim knows. Don’t take people for granted. Remember, good people can do bad things. Use commonsense and caution, especially in unfamiliar situations and dress in a decent manner.”
The Punch of August 8, 2015 reported the appalling story of an 18-year-old ‘jambite’ who got raped by her father’s friend who happened to be a UNILAG lecturer.
“When we got to his office,” the rape victim narrated, “it was about 6.30am. The offices in the building were deserted. He said he liked to be early to avoid traffic. He told me to sit on the couch in his office. I noticed he was restless. He would stand and go outside. He asked me if I wanted anything. I told him I was fine. He put on television; I told him I was okay. He put on the air conditioner and I told him I did not want that.”
According to the rape victim, Baruwa later took her to see a female official in another building of the university who examined her documents and explained that there was little that could be done on her admission.
“A moment later, he told me to pick up a paper for him beside the couch. As I bent down to pick up the paper, he pushed me in a corner of the couch and held me down as he forcibly removed my trousers and underwear.”
The rape victim claimed that she screamed, but that the way he held her down did not allow her voice to be as audible as she had wanted it to be.
Baruwa claimed it was consensual, a matter to be determined by the court.
