By Emmanuel Thomas l Wednesday, April 15
A UNIVERSITY of Lagos student has told a court the harrowing story of how a lecturer allegedly lured her to his windowless “underground” office and raped her. Fiyinfoluwa Owonifari, 20, broke down in tears as she described the moment Dr. Samuel Obinna Ojogbo, 53, allegedly forced himself on her after telling her not to worry about her exams.
The court heard how the senior academic—who faces charges of sexual assault and rape—allegedly cornered the young woman in a room with “no windows and no secretary” on the University’s Akoka Campus.
’Go and Close the Door’
Taking the stand at the Lagos State High Court, the brave student explained that the ordeal began on August 21 last year during an exam. Dr. Ojogbo reportedly approached her desk and told her to “come and see him” in his office afterward.
When she finally met him the following day, the court heard they went together to his secluded office suite.
“His office is underground… there is no window,” she testified.
The student claimed that while they were talking, two other female students interrupted to ask about missed tests. Dr. Ojogbo reportedly shooed them away, telling them to “stop disturbing him.”
As the girls left, they failed to shut the door properly.
“He told me to go and close the door,” the witness told Justice Oyindamola Ogala. “As I went to close the door, he stood behind me. He pushed me to the couch beside the door.”
Through her tears, she described how the lecturer then allegedly molested and raped her.
In a chilling twist, the victim claimed that after the attack, the lecturer brazenly offered to supervise her final-year project before taking a copy of her exam docket and her phone number.
But when the distraught student reported the incident to her Head of Department (HOD), she claims she was met with skepticism rather than support.
She told the court: “The HOD asked if what I was saying was true… he said where is the evidence and why didn’t I record with my phone?”
The student further alleged that the HOD told her and her uncle—who is also a lecturer—to “just let it go” and warned her to be “more careful with lecturers” in the future.
Refusing to be silenced, the student took her case to the university’s service agency (Servicom) and later to the police. Medical tests were conducted at both the university medical centre and a specialist sexual assault clinic (WARIF).
The court heard that after the police got involved, the lecturer’s “family and friends” allegedly began pestering the victim’s family for meetings.
Dr. Ojogbo denies the charges. The trial continues on April 27.
