Sex Scandals Rocking ABU, Zaria, Student Raped By HIV-Positive Lecturer

……Teenaged student raped by HIV-positive lecturer

……Lecturers arrested, sacked

By Isa Sa’idu,

Despite
punitive measures being taken by the management of the Ahmadu Bello
University (ABU) in Zaria, many students are battling to overcome the
trauma of sexual harassment and abuse by their lecturers. Daily Trust
Saturday takes a look.

Asabe (not real name) was excited to
secure admission into the famous Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria.
She has however never envisaged that her life would be ruined while in
the course of pursuing knowledge. To her chagrin, one of the people
responsible for training her in character and learning, forcibly had
carnal knowledge of her, in his office.

An inside source in the
university confided in Daily Trust Saturday that the incident took place
in the Faculty of Education: “The security unit of the university
handled the case before it was taken over by the police. Every one of us
was disturbed when it was discovered that the man was both HIV and
hepatitis positive.”

It was learnt that the alleged victim is a 100-level student.

The
source added: “When such incidents happen, we subject both the victim
and the suspect to various tests. It was after the tests that this man
was found to be both HIV and hepatitis positive. This aggravated the
case, where the police completely took over the prosecution. We are all
not happy, because this is cruel, for somebody who knows that he is
carrying serious diseases, to rape an innocent girl.”

The case of
Asabe is presently being handled by the police in Kaduna. Daily Trust
Saturday gathered that the father of the girl is close to top government
officials, which is why the case is receiving prompt attention.

Investigations
by Daily Trust Saturday revealed that many lecturers – and even
students – who were caught over sexual harassment were dismissed by the
university, with some even prosecuted. However, the disturbing trend is
yet to subside.

A recent case involved a lecturer in one of the
departments of the Faculty of Social Sciences. The lecturer, according
to findings, has been failing one of his female students in a 300-level
course he teaches. A Security Unit source said: “He plainly told the
girl she can’t pass the course without submitting herself to him. Left
with no option, she came here to the Security Unit and reported. We set a
trap for him by asking the girl to play along. He went and booked a
hotel room, and we arrested him while he was attempting to have sex with
the girl.

“We have learnt a lot of lessons, after one of the
professors sacked over sexual harassment was reinstated by the Supreme
Court. We now make sure that we get both audio and video evidence.

The
university is doing its best in ensuring that all those arrested are
punished appropriately in accordance to the statue of the institution
and the laws of the country. This is why the cases are reducing
drastically.”

However, findings showed that there are many cases
of sexual harassment now under investigation in ABU. There is one in the
Faculty of Agriculture where a lecturer is accused of raping his
student. Two cases are now ongoing in the Faculty of Social Sciences,
one involving a professor. Again, in the same faculty there is a case of
sexual harassment where a lecturer is accused of sexually assaulting
one of his male students.

Another case is that of a professor in
the Faculty of Education, who was accused of sexually harassing a lady
who was his student few years back. The professor in question was said
to have had sexual advances on the student, who is married, and the lady
alerted her husband where he was tricked and arrested at a hotel room
in Kano. He was alleged to have invited the student for sex in the hotel
room.

However, after receiving his sack letter from the
management, the professor went to court to challenge the termination of
his appointment.

“The Supreme Court ordered for his
reinstatement. They argued in court that the lady was his supervisee
therefore she was at his hotel room to submit the Chapter Three of her
project for his vetting. Of course, the court confirmed that the lady
was indeed his supervisee by the records available at the university.
You know, the court would work on evidence, and he was acquitted. This
is why, as I said earlier, the security unit of the university deploys
other strategies. We use evidence that even in a court of law, these
people would not escape justice.”

But Chief Security Officer of
ABU, Colonel Tukur Jibril (rtd), declined to comment saying that “there
is no need to publicise these issues since the university is effectively
dealing with them.”

However, the head of ABU’s Public Affairs
Unit, Dr. Sama’ila Shehu, said in a large environment like that of
ABU’s, sexual harassment and other issues are bound to happen. But,
according to him, the most important issue to consider are the proactive
measures being put in place by the relevant authorities to curtail the
trend and punish anyone caught.

He said: “What I want to say
here is to call on parents to sensitise their wards to report any case
of sexual advances. In this age of technology, there are many ways that a
girl can generate her evidences. With those evidences, there are units
responsible for handling such cases. The security and SERVICOM units are
there to serve our students and the general university community.”

Shehu
also said: “We, as parents, are taking solace in the fact that the
university management is up-and-doing in taking decisive action on
anyone involved in such acts. However, while the university is trying
its best to ensure that our children get the best protection, parents
are to also play their part, which is giving proper enlightenment to
their children.”

Source:- Dailytrustng

{Naijafinix.com}