#SexForGrade: UNILAG Parent-forum not happy for exclusion from panel ― Chairman

The Parent-forum of University of Lagos (UNILAG), Akoka, on Thursday, expressed deep displeasure over what they called their non-inclusion as member(s) of the panel constituted by the school management to investigate the sexual harassment allegations levelled by a BBC female reporter, who posed as an admission seeker against two lecturers of the institution.

They said the development was a clear departure from the practice in similar probe panels in the past.

The lecturers who were secretly filmed by the reporter are Dr Boniface Igbeneghu, of the department of French language studies and former sub-dean of the Faculty of Arts of the university, and Dr Samuel Oladapo of the department of economics.

The lecturers had already been suspended indefinitely from coming to school except on invitation by the probe panel headed by the dean of faculty of law of the university, Prof Ayodele Atsenuwa.

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The chairman of the forum, Mr Babatunde Majekodunmi, made these remarks in an exclusive conversation with our correspondent shortly after the executive members of the group concluded their emergency meeting held at the university on Thursday.

According to him, we the parents are not happy about frequent cases of sexual harassment happening in the university.

“It is like the lecturers want to destroy the lives of our children. And again, we are not also happy that the school did not carry us along in this current case let alone include us in the probe panel that was constituted.

“Though, the school is free to do whatever pleases it on the matter, yet, we suppose to have representative(s) in the panel, after all, the matter concerns our children. We suppose to be involved in the investigations. That is how it was been done in the past.”

Mr Babatunde said it was not as if the forum doubted the integrity of those in the panel, but that some of them who are leaders of the group including him are daily receiving phone calls and text messages from other parents asking for the update on the matter.

He noted that “the congress would meet on October 22 in the university’s main auditorium where we would register our general displeasures to the school management and discuss various issues we are not satisfied about in the university for a way out.

Reacting to this, the university’s spokesperson, Mrs Taiwo Oloyede, said she had no comment on the matter but that she would get back to our correspondent when she had information which she did not till we filed the report.