The Police in Lagos has arrested a University of Lagos (UNILAG) lecturer, Dr. Kadiri Akeem Babalola, accused of sexually assaulting a 20-year-old undergraduate student of the institution.
Babalola, an Associate Professor of Botany in UNILAG, was said to have perpetrated the crime when the student (name withheld) visited his office to sort out issues pertaining to her results.
Deji Lambo @deji_lambo had tweeted on X (formerly Twitter) that the arrest warrant was issued by the Commissioner of Police, Idowu Owohunmi, through the State High Court and involved the Vice Chancellor of the university.
A Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), Inclusive Social Welfare and Empowerment Foundation (InclusiveSWEF), which the victim reported the case to, revealed that the accused raped the victim on August 16, rather than attending to her result issues.
According to Lambo’s tweet, InclusiveSWEF reported the case to the Gender Unit of the State Police Command and through the OC Gender, the State CP, Idowu Owohunwa, issued a warrant of arrest for Babalola.
“The VC was given seven days to produce Babalola and when the VC invited the randy lecturer for questioning, InclusiveSWEF said he admitted to committing the crime. The VC informed the police through the Chief Security Officer of the school and Babalola was arrested.
“According to InclusiveSWEF, UNILAG and the police have been working tirelessly to ensure justice for the undergraduate,” the tweet reads.
The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, has confirmed the incident, saying, the accused lecturer will appear in court in the coming days.
Also, the spokesperson of UNILAG, Adejoke Alaga-Ibraheem, confirmed to Vanguard that the UNILAG management on August 28, received a letter from the Nigeria Police Force, inviting an employee of the University for questioning.
She said that the lecturer was immediately informed of the development and advised to comply.
“On August 29, the employee complied. While we are not yet privy to the full details of the incident that led to the arrest of the employee, we are fully aware that the investigation is ongoing and we are co-operating with security agencies to ensure that the matter is resolved in the interest of justice,” Alaga-Ibraheem said.
