Three days after
a Saturday Punch report detailed how a part-time lecturer of the University of
Lagos, Akin Baruwa, allegedly raped an 18-year-old admission seeker, Shola (not
real name), a 28-year-old former student of the lecturer, has come out with a
revelation of how she barely escaped being raped by the accused.
The young woman,
who spoke under the strict condition of anonymity, explained that the sexual
assault of the 18-year-old girl provided a window of opportunity for her to
expose what she went through in the hands of Baruwa.
In February 2014,
Agnes (not real name) was finalising her undergraduate project at the Distant
Learning Institute of UNILAG. She told Saturday PUNCH she was like a prey,
which fell into the lap of Baruwa, when she was reassigned to him after her
supervisor retired.
Agnes explained
to our correspondent that she felt a surge of anger when she realised that some
reactions to Shola’s story showed that some people did not believe the poor
girl’s story.
She explained
that she felt obligated to share her own story as a way of showing solidarity
with the girl.
Agnes said, “I
finished my project around December 2013. It was around that time my
supervisor, who was a very pleasant woman, retired. I was reassigned to Mr.
Akinfolarin Baruwa. I got his number and called him on the phone and he told me
to come the following day.
“He fixed the
appointment around 5pm the next day. I went to meet him in an office in the
Faculty of Business Administration, which he shared with another lecturer. I
noticed it was the other lecturer’s name that was on the door.
“When I got to
his office, I noticed that there was a student that came to submit her project
also. She was from the Lagos State University. So, I supposed he was also doing
part-time work at LASU.
“While I was
there, other students came to submit their projects also and he told me to wait
outside. Later he started sending me on errands. He would tell me to go and
make one photocopy or another or buy things for him. I was patient and did
everything he asked.
“He did all these
until around 8pm when he eventually looked at my project. As soon as he opened
the pages, he flung it away. ‘What kind of rubbish is this?’ he said. He said I
would have to start the project from the beginning.
“Mr. Baruwa told
me that everything I did was rubbish. He said I did not cite a particular
reference somewhere and said he would report me to our course adviser for
plagiarism and I would be given an extra year. He just wanted to hold on to
something just to rubbish my work.”
Agnes alleged
that it was at this point that she started to beg Baruwa. She claimed that she
was on her knees because she was writing exams and most of her colleagues had
already finished their project.
“There was also a
deadline I had to meet for the submission of the project. I explained all these
to him and begged. Later, he said I should drop the project that he would see
what he could do about it,” Agnes said.
According to
Agnes, Baruwa does not have a doctoral degree. She said he was a part-time
lecturer, who was assigned students for supervision and given invigilation
roles during examinations.
It would be
recalled that the management of UNILAG had on Monday, denied having Baruwa
under the employ of the institution despite the fact that he supervised the
final projects of many students in the Faculty of Business Administration.
Infact, Agnes,
who is now married, showed our correspondent a copy of her undergraduate
project, bearing Baruwa’s name and signature.
Agnes said after
Baruwa softened on his threat that she would have an extra year, she went down
on her knees to thank him but while she was mouthing her appreciation, the man
allegedly moved around the office closing the blinds.
“He brought out
some fruits from the fridge. I thought he was preparing to go home when he was
doing that. He was clearing the books on the sofa. He said, ‘is that how to say
thank you?’ I only knew something was amiss when he suddenly locked the door,”
she said.
“Before I knew
what was happening, he pulled me and put my hands on his manhood. He grabbed my
breasts and I began to struggle with him. He started to forcibly remove my
clothes. I was shocked beyond words. I felt really violated.
“He grew more
aggressive as I fought him off. I screamed but I knew my screaming would do
nothing because the office is opposite the UNILAG guesthouse by the seaside.
“I am asthmatic.
As he was about to force himself on me, I realised that I was beginning to have
breathing problem as if an attack was on its way. I decided to lay still and I
started breathing excessively as if I was already having asthmatic attack. I
started to beg him as I breathed heavily. I told him, ‘Please, I can’t breathe,
I have asthma.’
“He then left me
alone after that and apologised. He said he was not usually like that and that
he was only aroused. He said I should just give him a ‘handjob’ (fondle his
manhood with my hand) instead. I started to beg him again and pretended as if I
wanted to faint. I told him to open the door in order for me to get fresh air.”
Agnes said as she
rushed out of Baruwa’s office, she was in so much shock that she lost her bag
with , out knowing. She said the shock was so much that she fell down and could
not move.
According to her,
her troubles did not stop there.
She claimed that
the next time she went to Baruwa’s office for her project, she had to tell a
friend to follow her.
She said, “He
must have sighted me from afar because when I told him that I was around, he
just dismissed me that he had no time. He gave me an appointment for early
morning but I went there some minutes after 7am. He said, ‘You think you are
smart eh? You are playing with your graduation.’
“After I
eventually got the project back from him and went back to submit, there was a
little activity in his office then. He told me to wait outside. As the office
cleared and the lecturer he shared the office with left, he called me inside.
“He started to
force himself on me again and I started begging that I had a fiancée. He said
‘So?’ In broad daylight, he was fondling me. But as I resisted him and dragged
myself from his grip, my shirt tore. I was infuriated. I stormed out of his
office and threatened that I was going straight to the vice chancellor’s
office.
“He became
aggressive at this point and shouted at me that I should get out of his office.
He said I would never graduate. I was so angry that I was going straight
towards the senate building.”
Agnes said she
was later called back by someone who knew her. She claimed that some officials
in the faculty intervened in the matter that day and that when Baruwa was
approached on the issue, he feigned ignorance.
“He said, ‘Me? I
was only telling her about the corrections she had to effect on her project and
told her to come back when she started shouting.’ Later, the lecturers were
behind closed door with him and I did not hear what they discussed. When they
came out, they just told me to forget the issue,” she said.
Saturday PUNCH
learnt that Agnes’ problem persisted when it was time for Baruwa to submit her
score sheet to her course adviser.
According to her,
every student was mandated to submit a score sheet to their respective project
supervisor, who would in turn submit to the course adviser.
Agnes said,
“Without it, you cannot submit the final copy of your project or defend the
project. In short, you cannot graduate,” Agnes told our correspondent. “But Mr.
Baruwa refused to submit my score sheet. I kept asking him about it and he kept
referring me to the course adviser. He maintained he had submitted it. But the
course adviser kept telling me she had not got my score sheet.
“He later said
something that made me realise he was merely punishing me for not allowing him
to have his way with me. While I was going through these problems, I heard of
other ladies who had the same problem but could not speak out.
“When the
frustration was too much, I had to write a letter of complaint telling the
school authorities to look into my issue with Mr. Baruwa.
“He later
submitted my score sheet after he put me through so much trouble. By the time I
escaped him, I was already psychologically drained.
“When I heard
about the case of this other girl, I just shook my head because there was no
way the girl could have escaped him.”
Despite initial
denials from the UNILAG management that it did not know who Baruwa was, it was
learnt that he supervised the final projects of undergraduates.
Saturday PUNCH
learnt that after Agnes’ report to the school authorities, Baruwa was stopped
from supervising female students. But why he still retained his part-time
duties in the faculty is not clear.
Our correspondent
contacted the Public Affairs Officer of UNILAG, Mr. Olagoke Oke, following this
fresh allegation.
He said every
allegations against Baruwa would be discussed by a four-man panel set up by the
institution to look into how the suspect got into the university system.
Asked if the
school could now admit that he was indeed working in the institution and that
he was even supervising undergraduate projects, he said, “That might have been possible
in DLI (Distant Learning Institute). But the panel would look at all these and
come out with the report of its investigation soon.”
