Sex For Marks: Indicted OAU Lecturer Set To Walk Free

After all the hues and cries, especially on the social media, against the purported conduct of a Professor of Management and Accounting at the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife- Richard Akindele, who was accused of demanding s*x to help an unnamed female student pass his course, strong indications have emerged that the embattled lecturer and a senior pastor with an Anglican church may escape trial.

A top management official at the university, who spoke with Saturday Telegraph on condition of anonymity, said apart from the damage the social media account may do to the lecturer’s image, there is yet to be any case established against the accused. The source, who confirmed that the university had on Wednesday set up a committee to look into the matter and give its report in one week, said only four top officials of the institution know the membership composition of the committee to avoid unnecessary influence.

Meanwhile, further investigations have revealed that as at Friday night, just about four days to the expiration of the oneweek tenure of the committee, the female student, whose voice was heard in the recording that has gone viral on social media, has refused to either meet or forward any relevant document or information to the committee members for prosecution.

This was as the Vice-Chancellor of Lagos State University, LASU, Ojo, Prof. Olanrewaju Fagbohun, has advocated the institution of whistleblowing policy on campuses to address the rising cases of corruption in tertiary institutions, especially the cases of sexual harassment among both the students and staff.

Investigations conducted by Saturday Telegraph revealed that similar cases in the past could not be legally tried because the victims were afraid of coming out. Meanwhile, the highly-placed source has confirmed to Saturday Telegraph that information at the university’s disposal linked the embattled lecturer to similar cases of harassment, threats and bullying in the past, but there is yet to be any official complaint.

The source said: “I can confirm to you that information at our disposal even shows that the said lecturer had helped some female students under similar circumstances but where is the evidence? The lady is yet to come out and like we have experienced in the past, I can say authoritatively that she would not come in the open.

“Even when some people are suggesting that we could trace the call logs of telephone numbers for confirmation, the argument is that even if we do, except the victim comes out, we can’t fight her case for her. You can only forcefully take a horse to the stream, you cannot force the same horse to drink water.

“So the import of my message is that all that we are witnessing by the cries in the social media is just a social trial but the legal trial is different from all these. If you go to court without concrete evidence, the matter may be thrown out and the accused may even win claims against the institution or whoever goes to court.

So we need to appeal to the victim to come in the open first.” The source said the university has at many times in the past advised victims to share their experience with some gender activists among lecturers on the campus “but just like a rape case, they always keep quiet and suffer in the corners of their room.”