The former head of Department of
criminology at the Federal University Oye-Ekiti in Ekiti State Professor
Adewole Atere, has been accused of impregnating a 16-year-old student
in his department Precious Azuka.
The girl reportedly fell for
the Professor's love claim after one of his subordinates, Dr. Chinedu
Abrifor pressured her into believing that she was ‘mature enough’ for
Prof. Atere when they met in March 2017.
In her confession when
she appeared before a fact-finding committee set up by the office of the
then acting dean of students’ affairs E.O Adeyemi, Azuka who was
16-years-old at the time of the incident said it caused a disagreement
with her boyfriend Kayode Fasanya. He broke up with her when it became
clear that she was dating the Prof. Atere.
“A few days after Dr
Abrifor approached me, he accompanied Prof. Atere to my hostel and they
took me to their house at Aiyegbaju where I spent the night. I was
returned to the hostel by 6 a.m. the following day. This practice
continued for weeks" she said.
She got to know she was pregnant
two months into the amorous relationship and almost everyone within and
outside the hostel knew her story.
“I opted for abortion
instantly but a doctor I saw said he doesn’t do it. So, when I got to
the hostel, I took lipton tea and lime which made me to experience
serious blood flow. When I didn’t see my menstruation the following
months, I didn’t bother. I thought it had cleared,” she told the
investigating team.
“The laboratory official introduced me to Dr. Dada who eventually helped me out on Wednesday, July 26,” Azuka said.
Federal University Oye-Ekiti Professor allegedly impregnates 16-year-old student
However
because she was already 21 weeks into the pregnancy, Premium Times
reported that the doctor said dilation and curettage (D&C) could no
longer be conducted and then offered to induce Azuka to labour. That
took place on July 27, 2017.
After one of the cleaners found a
well wrapped cellophane bag dripping blood, she and her colleagues
decided to trace its source after they noticed it was fresh. Azuka was
found in the hostel writhing in pain and was rushed to the university’s
clinic where she was placed on admission, but discharged the following
day July 28, 2017.
“It was a Thursday morning and most of the
students in the hostel had left for lectures. So it was easy to identify
which room still had its occupant around. That was how Azuka was found
in the room writhing in pain. She had lost so much blood that she could
hardly talk,” a university source said.
Report of the
fact-finding sub-committee which was setup to look into the matter after
an Ado-Ekiti based legal practitioner Olaolu Ayodele, petitioned the
school, was submitted to the vice-chancellor’s office on August 14,
2017.
“In the cause of our investigation, we gathered that after
Azuka had been discharged, on August 2, 2017, Dr. Abrifor called her
and Kayode Fasanya for a meeting in his office at the faculty. On
getting there, Dr. Abrifor asked them to meet him at the mini campus
junction by 6 p.m. same day where they were driven to Ifaki Ekiti for
another meeting.
“At the meeting, Azuka said Dr. Abrifor accused
Kayode Fasanya of impregnating her, and this led to an argument which
was later settled when Dr. Abrifor made a call to his wife and asked her
to calculate conception from March to July. She did and said it would
be between 21 to 22 weeks, which was exactly what the test result
claimed.
He apologized to Fasanya but asked him to claim responsibility to protect Prof. Atere’s image.
“He also promised that the money spent on the abortion would be
refunded, and that Fasanya would be rewarded handsomely including good
academic grades.
Mr. Fasanya was expected to come with Azuka the
next day to lecturers' house at Aiyegbaju, but she was indisposed to
couldn't make it.
“When Fasanya got to Aiyegbaju, he met Dr.
Abrifor and Prof. Shola Omotola of political science department. They
repeated the request that Fasanya should claim the pregnancy but he told
them he would think about it. They also said a meeting with the
director of administration on the campus, Mr. Odusanya, had been
scheduled for Tuesday, August 8, when all parties involved would sign an
agreement that would be binding. But according to her, this meeting
never held" the report added.
On the evening of August 10, Mr
Abrifor sent Azuka N20,000 through Adeleke Abiodun said to be another
student of the department. She further revealed that she was charged
N13,000 for the abortion but deposited N11,500 and was to pay N1,500 if
she had returned for medications as scheduled.
Professor Atere
resigned from his job at the Federal University Oyo-Ekiti shortly after
the panel submitted its report. While some colleagues accused him of
abscondment, others alleged that he was protected by the
vice-chancellor. He is now a lecturer at the Olabisi Onabanjo University
(OOU) Ago-Iwoye in Ogun State.
Speaking on why they couldn't
bring the charges against Professor Atere as stated in the submitted
report, FUOYE's vice-chancellor Kayode Soremekun said Mr Atere left
permitted resignation without notice. Revealing that the victim’s
parents said they were not interested in prosecution, the
vice-chancellor also denied receiving report of any subcommittee from
the office of the then acting dean of students’ affairs.
“I had
no power to stop him when he tendered his resignation letter because the
law allowed him then. We have just reviewed our law to ensure that
appropriate steps are taken before anyone could retire or resign. In
fact, we have submitted it to the governing council and what we are
waiting for is the approval.
“They sent one reverend sister to
me that we should lay the matter to rest. So what do I do in that
circumstance? The decision was theirs I think.
“I am not aware
of any report by any committee set up by any dean. I have told you why
we could not act. And if I may ask, why are you just bringing up this
issue at this time? This matter happened two years ago now,” Mr
Soremekun said.
However a document containing the university’s
conditions of service which was approved in 2015 by the institution’s
governing council, countered the Vice Chancellor's claim as it clearly
spelt out conditions to be met when exiting the system.
“A
professor or other officer of equivalent grade not a principal officer
as defined by the Act unless he is appointed for a specific contractual
period, may terminate his appointment after having given to the council
not less than six month notice in writing of his intention to do so. In
exceptional cases, vice-chancellor may waive part or all of such notice
and shall thereafter report to the council.
“In fact, Prof. Atere erred by his abrupt resignation and his action qualified for abscondment,” a source said.
It
was further learnt that Azuka who is now in 300 level reiterated that
Mr Atere was responsible for her pregnancy. She however declined further
comments as she said that all she wants at this time is to graduate.
The
accused lecturer when approached by Premium Tumes said the allegation
is not true but refused to explain his own side of the matter. “That is
not true. It is not true" he said before ending the call abruptly and
refusing to pick calls thereafter.
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