IN Nigeria, as in other climes, terrible things happen all the time. However, while you are still pondering a dastardly event, another takes place that leaves you in utter bewilderment, in large part because of the feeling that something even worse may be in the offing. And that’s precisely the feeling evoked by the recent horrendous event that reportedly took place on the premises of a private faith-based university, the Ajayi Crowther University, Oyo, Oyo State, wherein a 300-level student in the Department of International Relations was reportedly raped by two university sheriffs in a classroom! According to reports, the said student was in class with her boyfriend at about 7 p.m on the fateful day, penultimate week, when the sheriffs walked in and demanded N5,000 from her and the male student, although, as it turned out, they only had N1,500. A close friend and hostel mate of the victim claimed that the sheriffs ordered the male student to leave the premises and before he returned, they had raped his companion.
Said the student: “My friend came back to the hostel crying and when we asked her what happened, she said she was raped by two sheriffs in the class. She said: ‘They came and demanded N5,000 but we only had N1,500 with us and we transferred to their bank account. After that, they sent my boyfriend away and did not allow me to leave.’” The student added: “Currently, she is depressed because when we took her to the medical centre, she was being blamed. She wrote to us that she was being traumatised at the medical centre, saying ‘They’re blaming me. They are calling me all sorts of names. They said I will never get married. They said I would be stigmatized in this school, that I would be a disgrace to everyone in school. They said I deliberately allowed them (the rapists) to have their way’.”
Commendably, though, the university management quickly initiated an investigation into the incident. A statement signed by its Public Relations Officer, Olufemi John Atoyebi, indicated that appropriate actions had been taken following the incident. The statement read: “The management of Ajayi Crowther University, Oyo, received with shock a report of an alleged rape of one of our female students last night, Thursday, May 9, 2024, by two members of our vigilance group. The management promptly handed over to the police the two people alleged to have committed the crime, while the university has set up its internal panel of inquiry to investigate the allegation. The management wishes to assure all stakeholders that ACU will not tolerate any act of misconduct capable of tarnishing its enviable image. Raising godly intellectuals is our primary goal in ACU, and we will not allow any act of misconduct capable of diverting our attention from our goal. Heavy penalties await anyone who is found culpable after our thorough investigation.”
This story indeed beggars belief. Just how could university security guards who are meant to ensure safety of life and property within the university community descend so low as to rape innocent students, and in a classroom to boot? Does it mean that the university environment is so depraved that just about anyone has the latitude to engage in bestial acts? If students do not feel safe in a classroom, just where are they supposed to feel safe? And to think that the suspects in this case not only harassed students but extorted money from them before violating one of them physically and the other psychologically makes the story so sordid and distressing! Assuming that the said students had committed an offence, all that the law and decency would dictate would be for the sheriffs in question to apprehend them and hand them over to their (the sheriffs’) superiors. It is from that level that they would be handed over to the university management. In this case, though, there is no indication that the students, who in all probability are very young people, did anything wrong. Rather, the story suggests that they were simply preyed upon by criminally-minded sheriffs, and in the most horrific fashion. Worse still, the fact that the suspects in this case allegedly committed the egregious offence of rape throws open the possibility that the latest incident was not their first crime, and that other sheriffs yet to be apprehended may be involved in such illegal and morally reprehensible activities.
To be sure, many of the country’s universities are cesspools of corruption. There are allegations that even lecturers engage in criminal deals with students accused of violating university rules, whereby the students, if they are female, are subjected to sexual abuse in exchange for being let off the hook, and not having to face the prospect of expulsion. If there are allegedly too many forbidden things in the country’s private, especially faith-based, universities, lecturers taking advantage of students in vulnerable and culpable positions would not be unheard of, which is why the universities have to tweak their regulations in such a way as to allow for students to be free from the threat of expulsion with every misdemeanor, and to have open forums to ventilate their frustrations.
Rape, regardless of where it takes place, is a grievous offence and if the suspects in this case are established to be guilty as charged, then they should be treated like common criminals, not least because by their actions, they cast fellow sheriffs in extremely bad light, and dealt the image of the university a huge blow. Besides, the university, and indeed all universities, should carry out proper background checks on their prospective employees and take decisive action when infractions are reported. That way, students, parents and the larger community would feel safe and the integrity of the university environment would be guaranteed. In addition, victims of sexual assault should be given all the support they need to avoid sinking into despair and even attempting suicide. That should be accompanied by strict punishment for those found to have shamed or attempted to shame victims of sexual assault, as is alleged in this case.
We are extremely saddened by the alleged rape incident at Ajayi Crowther University, an institution that is demonstrably committed to moral, cultural and academic excellence. We hope that justice will be done, and be seen to be done, in this case.
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