OAU apologises for lecturer’s assault on student

Cursory: The management of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State, has apologised to the public, particularly its alumni, over the alleged assault on a male student of the university by a lecturer

Gift, a 200-level student at the university was said to have mistaken the class for where he was to take a lecture and upon realizing this, he quickly attempted to exit the class when the lecturer identified as Dr Ariyo called him back.

In one of the videos of the incident that circulated online, the student was seen struggling with a man said to be a security official.

The student was also seen attempting to press his phone when the lecturer shouted, “Don’t call anybody! Switch off that phone! You can’t be more than me, even if you’re the VC’s son, I won’t take this from you. Switch off the phone!”

“What did I do?” the student, Gift, was heard saying

After some seconds, the lecturer was seen struggling to take the phone from the student whose back was already on the wall. He was subsequently seen throwing a punch at the student afterwards as other students watched in amazement.

Reacting further to the incident, the management apologized to the public.

“The attention of the authorities of OAU has been drawn to a video that has gone viral about a lecturer in the university who allegedly assaulted a part two student.

“Displeased with what he saw in the video, the Vice Chancellor of the university, Prof Adebayo Bamire, has waded into the matter to set up a committee to unravel the circumstances surrounding the whole scenario,” a statement by the Public Relations Officer of the university.

“What happened in the viral video is not in our character. We are a decent and diligent set of people who will not tolerate any form of abuse or maltreatment from anyone. We, therefore, apologise to the people, especially our alumni, whose sensibilities might have been assaulted by that shenanigan.

“We appeal to our students to remain calm and conduct their normal academic activities. We assure all stakeholders that justice will be served accordingly and appropriately.”