‘Nigerian Universities Are Not Safe For Girls’ -Singer, Temmie Ovwasa Shares Her Experience In UNILAG As Students Scream Justice For Victims Of Sexual Assault In The School
Nigerian singer, Temmie Ovwasa has shared her experience as a university student after she tried to put an end to sexual assault in the institution.
Her post comes as #endSAcultureinCMUL trends on X, formerly Twitter.
On Sunday, June 30th, 2024, students of the College of Medicine University of Lagos (CMUL) flooded Twitter with alarming accounts of sexual assault pervasive within the College of Medicine.
The students’ anger stemmed from the punishment given to a male medical student alleged to be a repeat sexual assault offender.
One of the alleged victims of the male student is said to have reported the assault to the school’s Dean of Student Affairs, who failed to take commensurate action.
In response, the student body imposed a meager fine and demanded an apology letter.
The alleged serial offender, accused of assaulting multiple students in the College of Medicine, was required to pay a sum of 5,000 naira because he’s a repeat offender.
Angry students asked if this means N2,500 is all a woman’s dignity is worth and a N5,000 fine is the only punishment an offender get when he assaults multiple women.
Reacting to the trending news, the singer wrote on X:
“When I was in unilag, I organized a protest with a friend against rape in the school, the VC called the both of us into his office and showed us our students portals, he didn’t have to say much, we knew it was a threat! This was in 2014!
“Nigerian universities are not safe for girls!”
Speaking on the matter, Dr. Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi, a Senior Lecturer at Faculty of Law and Director, Centre for Human Rights, University of Lagos, said though the assault did not happen in her faculty, she promised to escalate and ensure justice is served.
Akiyode-Afolabi, a known voice for the oppressed, wrote:
“Thank you for contacting me, I have escalated your concerns to the school and thanks @Theariaspeaks for listing the names as alleged.
I will follow up with the school on your concerns, SH (sexual harassment) should not be tolerated anywhere and definitely not at CMUL, Unilag should activate his zero tolerance policy and I promise to take it up and feed you back on development.
I am ready to meet, I will send you my phone number. Thank you .”
The Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency has also stepped in.
Screenshots purportedly shared by male students of the school show them mocking women and pointing out that it costs only N2,500 to “press” a girl.
Others said the girls had it coming because they “starve” boys of their body.
