University of Lagos Lecturer, and Rapist Dr. Akin Baruwa.Arraigned

Dr. Akin Baruwa,

Lagos Report: The disowned randy lecturer of the University of Lagos, Dr. Akin Baruwa, who allegedly raped an 18-year-old admission seeker, was a project Supervisor at the Distance Learning Institute, DLI, of the institution, Baruwa, who served as project supervisor at the university’s DLI two years ago, was accused of raping the young girl in a study room on 23 July, 2015. The victim was his friend’s daughter whom Baruwa was asked to help secure admission in UNILAG.Baruwa was subsequently arrested and arraigned before an Ikeja Magistrates’ Court, Lagos, on Thursday and ordered to be remanded at the Kirikiri Prison.During our correspondent’s visit to the institution’s Faculty of Business Administration, our findings revealed that his name was not on the lecturers’ list.Speaking with P.M.NEWS in his office, on Tuesday, the Head, Information Unit of the university, Mr. Olagoke Oke, said Baruwa was not an employee of the institution, adding that he was only engaged two years ago as a project supervisor at the DLI.According to him, “the nearest you can get was that he was a project supervisor at the DLI and what led to his disengagement I do not know. He is therefore 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.“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.”He told our correspondent further that the university authority has set up a panel to unravel the circumstances surrounding the rape allegation.The four-man panel is headed by the Dean of Students’ Affairs, Prof. G. O. Babawale, while the secretary of the panel is O. Olasunmade of the Quality Assurance & Servicom Unit of the institution.The other two members of the panel are: Associate Professor of Law, Dr. A. Sanni and Dr. A. Layiwola, a lecturer in the Creative Arts Department.Some of the accounting students of the institution who spoke with our correspondent said they neither knew him as a full or part-time lecturer in the department nor were taught by him at one time or the other.The majority of the female students said they were not aware of the development while a few admitted reading about the rape scandal on the internet.Our correspondent also spoke with some male students sitting under a tree within the faculty and they said they were not aware of the incident but only read about it.The students who did not want their names mentioned, said they read the story online and were not sure of its authenticity.They requested for the picture of the alleged randy lecturer and when it was shown to them through an earlier news portal that reported the scandal and Baruwa’s photograph, they chorused that the man was not a lecturer in the department.According to one of them, “with all the lecturers that I know in this faculty, I have never come across this man. He’s not a lecturer here. Besides, I don’t think it is possible for a student to be raped in a study room in broad daylight.”The Dean of the Faculty of Business Administration, Prof. Rasheed Ojikutu, was not available for comments as at the time of filing this report.As our correspondent was about leaving the institution, he met a student who identified herself only as Joan at the campus car park.Joan, who was coming from the university’s Guest House where the issue was being discussed among the lecturers, said they argued that it could not have been possible for Baruwa to successfully rape his victim who was seeking admission into the institution, given the time and the circumstance when the offence was said to have been committed.According to her, “the girl was alleged to have been raped at about 9am, whereas she was seen together with the same man hours later in a lecturer’s office where she was served coffee. Such grave allegation is not possible in this school. The said office is an open place, so how can such act be going on and people will not be aware?“Didn’t the girl struggle with him? Was there bruise on her body? You too can go round yourself and see what the office looks like and judge if such a heinous crime can happen in broad daylight.“The office is even slippery. So if such was even about to happen and the girl struggled with him, she would have fallen down and had bruises all over her body. Some students would have even come around to assist her.”