The Ondo students’ drug-rape case

AT a time of heightened insecurity when public attention is focused on the physical safety of students across Nigerian university campuses, it is understandable that many would overlook the harm that students are likely to inflict on themselves and  members of their immediate community. The tragic case involving a 20-year-old female student of Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko, Ondo State (name withheld), offers a timely reminder that things are not at ease on most campuses across the country, and the likelihood of students causing untold harm, whether due to mischief, ignorance, or a combination of both, remains high.

The details of the case in question are as unfortunate as they are head-scratching. According to the Ondo State Police Public Relations Officer, Olayinka Ayanlade, the command is currently holding two students of the university in connection with the rape of the aforementioned twenty-year old. As to why the students are in police custody, we think the statement of the Police PRO speaks for itself: “Preliminary investigation reveals that the victim was invited to the residence of her long-time friend, Queen Sodo, ‘f’, 19 years old, also a student of the same school. Trusting in the longevity of their friendship, which began in secondary school and continued into university, the victim accepted a drink provided by her friend, which was later found to have been laced with drugs, causing her to lose consciousness. Observing that the victim had become incapacitated, Queen Sodo reportedly left the room, summoned her male co-conspirator, and kept watch while the crime was being committed.”   

In other words, Queen Sodo, a supposedly close friend of the victim, decided to betray the trust reposed in her by setting a trap for her mate. It would have been a different matter if she had been playing pranks. Friends do that all the time, and arguably without practical jokes, there would be no such thing as friendship. But this was no practical joke, and if anyone was laughing, it was certainly not the 20-year-old who must have gone to her friend’s place on that fateful day without the slightest intimation that something nefarious was in the offing. Not only did she fall into a trap laid by Queen Sodo who offered her a drug-laced drink, thereby rendering her incapacitated and vulnerable, according to the Ondo State Police Command, it was pure luck that a neighbour was around to raise the alarm which led to her rescue from her male molester.

There is obviously a moral here about not being too trusting, but is it actually possible to live without trusting anyone?

For us therefore, this is not just about a trust betrayed- even though that’s part of it- but the moral rudderlessness of the so-called Queen Sodo and the sheer villainy of the man who actively conspired with Sodo to take sexual advantage of an innocent person. It is reassuring that the Ondo State Police Command is already on top of the matter and plans to prosecute the suspects. We urge the command to prosecute the suspects to the fullest extent permitted by law.

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