A lecturer at the Kwara State University, Malete, Pelumi Adewole, has been summoned under the arranging before a Magistrate's Court sitting in Ilorin, Kwara State, for allegedly sexually harassing a student.
Adewole was captured by the State Intelligence Bureau over offences bordering on criminal intimidation, sexual harassment and examination malpractices, among others.
The offenses, according to the Prosecution, contravene sections 397 and 95 of the Penal Code Law and Section 3(320) of the Examination Malpractices Act Cap. E15 Law of the Federation of Nigeria 2004 and Punishable under the same law.
The Kwara State Federation of International Women Lawyers (FIDA) was additionally involved with the case.
Adewole, according to the FIDA President, Grace Okoduwa, wedded in June 2021.
The Police First Information Report said a petition, dated October 15, 2021, was written by a student of the Department of Pure and Applied Science of KWASU, who complained of sexual harassment by the lecturer.
The students, as indicated by the police, alleged that sometime in September 2021, Adewole called and threatened to fail her in the forthcoming exam if she wouldn't have sex with him.
Due to the threat issued by the accused person, the police reportedly instructed the student to play along with him in order to obtain evidence.
"The lecturer thereafter tricked the student into his room around 8.30pm on Taoheed Road, Basin area, Ilorin, where he gave her a new question paper and answer script of KWASU to rewrite her exam with a promise to have sexual intercourse with her till daybreak.
"The suspect was, however, apprehended in the process by detectives from the SIB, who were hiding at a location,” the FIR stated.
The speaker pleaded not guilty to the charges against him.
The examiner, Nasiru Yusuf, begged the court to remand Adewole in custody, saying the offenses were not bailable.
He noticed that sexual harassment had become rampant in institutions of higher learning in the country.
But the lead defence counsel, A.J. Opalekunde, prayed the court to grant his client bail in liberal terms, saying the defendant was still innocent until found guilty by the court.
The justice, Ibrahim Mohammed, granted the accused bail the sum of N200,000 with a guarantee in like total.
The case was suspended till December 8, 2021 for additional notice.
