KWARA State University (KWASU), Malete, has dismissed a member of its academic staff, Pelumi Adewale, for alleged sexual harassment of one Miss Tosin Adegunsoye, a student of the Department of Pure and Applied Sciences of the university.
Prof. Mustapha Akanbi, KWASU’s Vice-Chancellor, made the revelation in Ilorin on Monday, while addressing a news conference to herald the 8th and 9th convocation ceremonies of the institution. Prof Akanbi said that Adewale ceased to be a lecturer of the institution for bringing it into disrepute.
“The security agency has taken up the case and it is in court already, but I am informing you officially that the man is now an ex-staff member of the institution. He is a disgrace to our great institution and we won’t condone such acts,” Prof Akanbi said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Adewale was on September 11, 2021 arraigned before a magistrate court sitting in Ilorin on an allegation of sexual harassment. He was arrested by the State Intelligence Bureau (SIB) on offences bordering on criminal intimidation, sexual harassment and examination malpractices.
According to the First Information Report, a petition dated October15, 2021 by Adegunsoye alleged that sometimes in September, Adewale, a lecturer assigned to teach her a course, MLS 212: Cell and Molecular Biology, called her and threatened to fail her in her forthcoming examination if she refused to have sexual intercourse with him.
She subsequently reported the matter and the police instructed her to play along with the lecturer in order to obtain raw evidence.
The lecturer thereafter lured the student into his bedroom apartment around 8:30pm at Taoheed Road, Basin Area, Ilorin, where he gave her a new question paper and KWASU answer script to rewrite her examination with promise to have sexual intercourse with her till day break. The suspect was however apprehended in the process by the detectives who were hiding at a secured location to monitor the development.
In his ruling, Presiding Magistrate Ibrahim Mohammed, however, obliged the application of the defence and granted the accused bail in the sum of N200,000 and adjourned the case till December 8, 2021 for further mention.
