UNILAG disowns lecturer who raped admission seeker

Authorities of the University of Lagos on Sunday disowned the randy lecturer, Dr. Akin Baruwa, who reportedly raped an 18-year-old admission seeker.

Baruwa allegedly raped the young girl (name withheld), who is seeking admission to the university, in his office on July 23, 2015.

The lecturer, currently in detention at the Kirikiri Prison, was arraigned before an Ikeja Magistrate’s Court, Lagos, on Thursday.

But speaking with our correspondent on Sunday, the Head, Information Unit of the university, Mr. Olagoke Oke, said Baruwa was not an employee of the institution.

According to him, no such name exists on the university’s employee list whether teaching or non-teaching.

He added, “The said Dr. Baruwa is a not a member of staff of the university, whether teaching or non-teaching. 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 as of Friday, August 6, 2015.

“I have also checked the list of office accommodation given to members of staff of the university and his name is not there. There is no office allocation attached to such a name. How he reportedly entered the said office where the crime took place is what we are looking into as an institution.

“While we sympathise with the alleged victim, we are ready to cooperate with every agency of government to get to the root of the matter as soon as possible. As an institution, we do not support any act of violence, not even against women. Therefore, we will help to ensure that the case comes to a logical conclusion.”

Meanwhile, as the authorities disowned the lecturer, some students, in the Faculty of Business Administration, who craved anonymity for fear of victimisation, claimed that the suspect was a part-time lecturer of the accounting department of the university.

One of them said, “I know him as a part-time lecturer in the accounting department. I wonder what the university wants to achieve now by trying to disown him.”

The Dean of the Faculty of Business Administration, Prof. Rasheed Ojikutu, could not be reached as of 6pm on Sunday.

Baruwa, who the police in Lagos arrested on August 3, reportedly confessed to the act but claimed that the sex was by mutual consent.