By Ibrahim Salaudeen, Lagos
A Lagos State High Court sitting in Ikeja has heard harrowing testimony from a 20-year-old student who accused a University of Lagos lecturer, Samuel Obinna Ojogbo, of sexually assaulting her in his office.
The student gave evidence yesterday while inside the wetness to testify before Justice Oyindamola Ogala as the first prosecution witness in the two-count charge of rape and sexual assault filed against the 53-year-old lecturer by the Lagos State Government.
Led in evidence-in-chief by the prosecution counsel, A.O. Azeez, the witness told the court that the incident occurred on August 22, 2025, around noon, at the university’s main campus in Akoka.
She recounted that the defendant had first approached her a day earlier while she was writing an examination.
“Prior to the 22nd of August, 2025, on the 21st of August, I was writing an exam not related to banking.
“I was seated in the first row, the first seat. The defendant came inside at the first row while I was writing my exam and asked, ‘Hope it is what you read that came out?’ I said yes, that I knew a particular section more than the other section.
“He then told me not to worry and that I should come and see him in his office after my exam,” she said.
The student said she visited his office twice after the exam but did not meet him. She later encountered him again on August 22 after completing another examination.
“The second day, being 22nd August, I had another exam slated from 9:00am to 12:00pm, but the defendant was the one taking us,” she disclosed.
“I was going to my hostel when I saw him. He signalled to me that I should wait, and I waited because he was talking to somebody.
“We then went to his office together,” she said.
Describing the setting, the witness told the court that the lecturer’s office was “underground” and had no “window” or “secretary.”
According to The Sun report, she testified that while they were in the office, two female students briefly came in but were sent away by the lecturer.
Now tearful in court, she narrated the alleged assault.
“On their way out, they didn’t close the door well. He told me to close the door. As I went to close it, he stood behind me and pushed me to the couch beside the door.
“He started caressing me, touched my breasts, and then forced himself on me. He raped me.”
According to her, after the incident, the lecturer allegedly attempted to offer academic assistance.
“He said he would make sure he supervises my project in Year Four. He collected my exam docket, made a copy, gave me one, and collected my phone number,” she told the court.
The witness said she left the office in tears, confided in a friend, and reported the incident immediately.
She narrated how she first reported the matter within her department.
“We then went to a lecturer in my department, Dr Abu; he called my uncle, who is also a lecturer in the department. Then we went to the HOD office. When we got to the HOD office, he asked if what I was saying was true; he said, ‘Where is the evidence, and why don’t I record with my phone?’
“Then he called the defendant to his office. When the defendant came, he said nothing of such a thing having happened and that I was just lying against him.
“The HOD said that my uncle and I should just let it go, and said next time I should be more careful with lecturers alone. Then we left his office.”
She added that her uncle insisted the matter be pursued further.
“My uncle said we can’t just let it go like that. We went to Servicom at school. When I got to Servicom, a woman and I went to the medical centre for tests. Then, after that, they prescribed drugs.”
The student also told the court that she reported the case to the Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency, which referred her to the police.
“I was referred to Bariga Police Station and later to WARIF for another test,” she said.
She added that the case was subsequently transferred to the Gender Unit of the police command for investigation.
“After all these, the defendant’s family and friends started calling for a meeting,” she added.
Justice Ogala adjourned the case till April 27, 2026, for cross-examination of the witness.
