Avoid Unnecessary Favours From Men, UNILAG Warns Female Students

The University of Lagos on Monday advised female students not to seek unnecessary favour from men as part of a new set of counselling tips aimed at preventing sexual harassment and rape on campus.

The advisory, issued through its Student Affairs Division and displayed on a roll-up banner within the university, comes against the backdrop of reported cases of assault and rape in the institution, including an ongoing court case involving a lecturer.

A 20-year-old student of UNILAG on Wednesday told a Lagos State High Court sitting in Ikeja how a 53-year-old lecturer of the school, Samuel Obinna Ojogbo, allegedly assaulted her in his office.

The Lagos State Government is prosecuting Ojogbo on a two-count charge of rape and sexual assault. Led in evidence-in-chief by prosecution counsel A.O. Azeez, the student said the incident occurred on August 22, 2025, at about 12:00 pm, at the university’s Akoka campus.

She told the court that a day earlier, while writing an exam, the defendant approached her and asked her to come and see him in his office after her exam. On August 22, after another exam, she said she met him near her faculty and they went to his office together.

She described the office as “underground. There is no window and no secretary.” According to her, two female students briefly entered to see him but were sent away.

“On their way out, they didn’t close the door well. He told me to close the door. As I went to close it, he stood behind me and pushed me to the couch beside the door,” she said.

She testified amidst tears that “he started caressing me, touched my breasts, and then forced himself on me. He raped me.”

She said he later promised to supervise her project in Year Four, collected her exam docket and phone number.

The student said she reported the incident to a lecturer in her department, who contacted her uncle, also a lecturer, before they went to the HOD.

She said the HOD asked for evidence and told them to “let it go.” They later reported to Servicom, went to the medical centre for tests, and she was referred to the Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency, then to Bariga Police Station and WARIF for further tests.

The case was transferred to the Gender Unit of the police command. She added that the defendant’s family and friends later called for a meeting to settle. Justice Oyindamola Ogala adjourned the matter till April 27, 2026, for cross-examination.

The banner urged female students to adopt precautionary measures.

Some of the most prominent messages read: “Do not dress to kill. Do not shake hands anyhow with any man. Do not mingle carelessly with men. Do not stay alone with a man in a hidden place. Do not seek unnecessary favour from men. Do not join to watch pornographic film/pictures. Do not accept intoxicants and be vigilant when you are served with drinks. Do not give in to pressure – be assertive.

“Learn to say no. One-time sex can cause you pregnancy; if you don’t want it, don’t try it,” the advisory added.

According to the Student Affairs Division, the guidance forms part of its counselling efforts to educate female students on personal safety and ways to reduce the risk of sexual harassment and rape while on campus.