JUST a few weeks after two sheriffs on the university’s campus were arrested for allegedly raping a female student of the university, the Ajayi Crowther University, Oyo, Oyo State, is in the news for the wrong reasons once again. This time around, in an extremely distressing development, a 200-level student of the university identified as Alex Timileyin was beaten to death by a group of students for allegedly stealing a mobile phone! The student, a prince in the Uvwie and Warri kingdoms in Delta State, was brutally tortured to death in his hostel known as Shepherd Inn on the school premises on Saturday, May 25. A gruesome video posted online showed the deceased rolling on the floor while other students beat him with sticks and shouted profanities at him. At a stage, the victim was also subjected to a barbing session in the barbaric episode that signposted utter lawlessness and cast the institution in extremely negative light. Quite naturally, the incident sparked widespread condemnations, with many calling for the swift prosecution of the suspects.
Reacting to the incident, the management of the university said it had expelled certain students of the institution over their involvement in the dastardly incident. It also dismissed allegations that the incident had a linkage with cultism. It said: “The university has zero tolerance for any sort of anti-societal vices and misconduct. It is important to stress that the expelled students do not belong to any cult group. What actually happened is that the deceased was alleged to have stolen a mobile telephone, but instead of reporting the issue to the University management, the expelled students could not control their emotions. The university has taken swift action by handing over all the students involved to the Nigeria Police Force for investigation, with the assurance that justice will be served.”
On its part, the leadership of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) demanded justice for the slain student. In a statement by the Universal President, Comrade Lucky Emonefe, the association said: “NANS vehemently condemns the heinous act of murder carried out by individuals identified as students, and implores law enforcement to apprehend anyone found guilty to prevent any future occurrences of such a tragic event. On our part as custodians of students’ interests, we will not rest until we ensure justice is served to the soul of late Alex.” Again, the Oyo Assembly, which described the torture and killing of the student as a barbaric and appalling act against humanity, urged the Oyo State police command to expedite investigation and apprehend the perpetrators. In addition, it urged the state’s Ministry of Education, Science and Technology to collaborate with the university’s authorities to conduct a comprehensive review of campus security protocols and implement necessary enhancements to ensure students’ safety.
No matter the angle from which this story is viewed, there can be no exculpation of Ajayi Crowther University. It is distressing and extremely disappointing that a faith-based institution with a history of excellence in academics and moral values created an environment that permitted the kind of brutality captured in the viral video that has taken the public space by storm. We find it hard to accept the suggestion that rape and murder in quick succession took place under a disciplined atmosphere. It is beyond surprising that a student was brutally tortured for eight hours and no one came to his rescue! Was it that there were no porters and sheriffs on duty that terrible night? Or were they busy engaging in criminal activity like the two sheriffs apprehended recently, and therefore had no time to monitor the developments in the hall and address any perceived breakdown of law and order, bringing it to the attention of the authorities for prompt intervention? Even without video evidence, it would have been sufficiently clear, with the report that the deceased was tortured from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., that he screamed many times as he battled to save his life. It is a shame that the institutions of the university gave his shrill cries no response.
Besides, just how could university students who are ordinarily expected to be at the driver’s seat in Nigeria’s future be so callous as to torture a fellow student to death for allegedly stealing a phone? Assuming but not conceding that the deceased actually committed that offence, is treating him worse than an animal the solution? Why would students hold a vigil torturing a fellow student? Whatever happened to the civilised step of reporting the infraction to the school authorities? Is the atmosphere at the university so lax that criminally minded students can do whatever they like, creating an atmosphere of terror and instilling fear in other students? What manner of students would boldly, within a university’s premises, beat another student in a brutal fashion without even bothering about what the university and its authorities would think or do about their inglorious action?
To be sure, one of the reasons parents take their children to faith-based universities is the belief that discipline reigns supreme there. It is therefore sad to learn of the total absence of discipline among the students in question. We ask again: what kind of university environment would permit the brutal beating of a student for more than eight hours to death by a group of students without anybody raising the alarm and alerting the authorities to the ongoing incident? What structures does the university have in place to monitor and ensure proper student discipline and behaviour within the campus and how come such structures could not dissuade students in question from engaging in brutal beating of a colleague? Are there other stories in the university that are yet to come to light?
Beyond handing over the perpetrators to the police, the university must do a thorough review of its methodologies and structures to identify weak points and what has to be done to firm up discipline among staff and students. That is the only way to show that it has learnt appropriate lessons from the current tragedy.
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