In a radio programme on Rave FM in Osogbo, the management of the Obafemi Awolowo University, OAU, Ile Ife, Osun State, disclosed what they’ve done so far in prosecuting their staff, Professor Richard Akindele who was accused of demanding sex from a female student in exchange for marks.
The Public Relations Officer of OAU, Abiodun Olanrewaju, said investigation had commenced already into the allegation against the don.
“We have put machinery in motion to ascertain the veracity of the claims and identify the characters involved.
“As I am talking to you now, the management has taken a position which we will be working on now.
“On the day that the audio was leaked, the vice chancellor and other principal officers of the university acted, including the legal director of the university.
“We set up a committee and the vice chancellor gave the committee one week to submit its report. After that, we will know what to do.
“The incident happened last year. We have been calling her (the student’s) line, but she is not responding to her calls again.
“We learnt that she confided in someone that she did not want the appointment of the man (lecturer) to be terminated because of her case.
“The panel has been set up and query has been given to the man; but we need somebody to come up that she was the one that was sexually harassed and the person is not in sight” the PRO said.
In the released recorded phone conversation, the Professor could be heard asking the student to have sex with him five times, so an alleged score of 33 could be upgraded to a pass mark.
The student probed the lecturer if he was serious, he replied that she should take the ‘opportunity’ or be prepared to repeat the course next year.
He said, “I gave you an opportunity and you missed it, forget about it. You will do it next year. Me that agreed to do something. I know what I meant. If you don’t trust me forget about it. If I wouldn’t do it, why should I give you audience in the first place. If I am not interested in doing it, I won’t give you audience. The other person has come and I told her straight away because there is nothing I can do to bail that person out and her mark is even better than your own. The person scored 39 while your own is 33.
