Professor at the centre of sex for marks scandal goes into hiding after video recording goes viral

CONTROVERSIAL Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) lecturer Professor Richard Akindele accused of demanding sex from a female student of the institution in return for marks has gone into hiding following the exposure of his shenanigans.

 

An accounting lecturer and church elder, Professor Akindele was thought to be a highly respected academic until a Youtube video of him demanding sexual favours for marks went viral. One of the lecturers in his department said the professor has been hiding since his leaked conversation with the female student went viral on the social media.

 

He said: “The prof  is not in the office and he has not been coming since his alleged conversation with a female student went viral. I don’t know where he is but he has finished his sabbatical and has come back to the campus before this scandal broke out.”

 

OAU public relations officer, Abiodun Olanrewaju, said he could not tell if the lecturer had gone into hiding, adding that the committee investigating the matter had started sitting. He noted that the university was still searching for the student at the centre of the scandal.

 

Mr Olanrewaju added: “For now, the prof has finished his sabbatical but he has some accumulated leave. It is only his head of department that can say categorically if he has been coming to the office or not.

 

“I don’t know if he has gone into hiding because he is not a criminal. We are still investigating the allegations levelled against him but he has not been convicted and he is not before any court of competent jurisdiction."

 

He explained that the university would ensure that thorough investigation was done into the matter to convince the public that the institution did not cover immorality or any other anti-social behaviour. According to Mr Olanrewaju,  the university would make the findings of the committee public because it had nothing to hide.

 

“We have set machinery in motion to identify the characters in the audio tape. Obafemi Awolowo University is the best ICT university in Nigeria and we have the apparatus to determine the vanity or otherwise of the audio tape.

 

“If any student comes out to tell the university that certain things happened to them, we will investigate it as we don’t rely on speculations, neither do we dwell on rumours. If we receive a formal complaint from anybody, either student or worker, that has to do with harassment, whether sexual, political, social or religious, we will take it up but there must be a complaint before we know what to do," Mr Olanrewaju added.

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