Dr Afeez Baruwa, an ex-lecturer in the University of Lagos
accused of raping a 17-year-old admission seeker (name withheld)
has said that he had consensual sexual intercourse with the
teenager.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Baruwa made the
claim on Friday while testifying for five hours before an Ikeja
High Court.
Led in evidence by his counsel, Mr Olanrewaju Ajanaku, Baruwa
described himself as a community leader at Abesan, Lagos, and an
academic who worked as a project supervisor at the Distant Learning
Institution (DLI) of the university from 2010 to 2015.
He said that the father of the complainant, also a community
leader at Abesan Low Cost Housing Estate, where they both lived,
was known to him and had approached him to aid his daughter to gain
admission into the institution.
Baruwa said that in the early hours of July 23, 2015, the man
dropped off the teenager at his home and they both left for
university for him to resume work and also to help her with
admission.
He said: “We arrived Unilag at 6.05a.m., and we went down to my
friend’s office where I use as my study room as well as supervision
contact.
”As we were going upstairs, we saw about seven Muslims observing
their normal early morning prayer.
“In the office, we were talking generally; then I offered her
tea or coffee, she settled for coffee and she made it for herself.
All this while, the door of the office was open and there was no
way I could put on the air conditioner.
“She told me that as a result of the coffee, she was feeling hot
and that I would need to shut the door. I responded that it was too
early in the morning (before 7a.m.) for us to be alone.
“She told me to lock the door that after all, she was mature
enough, and I did. After that, she picked up a textbook to read.
She sat on a single chair while I sat on a three-seat chair.”
The former lecturer said he fell asleep but was woken up after
about 20 minutes by the complainant who, he claimed, was fondling
him.
“Her hands were all over me and I woke up and I looked at her.
By then, she had already removed the buttons of her blouse and I
did suck her breasts.
“She said she needed to pull her white shirt so that it will not
be stained and she had her jeans trousers on. We were romancing
each other in that position, my lord.
“She told me that she wanted me to have sex with her and I
replied that there was no way I could practise unsafe sex with her;
this was some minutes past 7a.m. .
“She sucked my penis and I thereafter released, and around that
time, one of my students came in, but we had dressed up,” Baruwa
said.
He said after the sexual contact, he, the complainant and the
student went to the Commercial Center in the institution to make
enquiries about her eligibility to study mass communication with
her UTME score of 211.
According to him, they got information that the score did not
qualify her to write post UTME, and he advised her to apply to
study English with the score.
He said after they left the Commercial Center, the teenager went
to see some friends and came to his office later to say farewell to
him and thank him for his efforts in helping her to seek
admission.
Baruwa said: “She offered to give me a hug as a sign of
appreciation and I obliged her, my lord. When we hugged, she moved
her hands toward my penis. This was a few minutes after 10a.m.
“There were a lot of students outside the office, they sat
around the stairs waiting to go in for the next batch of lectures.
I told her to be conscious of the students that were outside.
“She threatened to shout and create a scene if I refuse to have
sex with her and I told her like I did early in the morning that
there was no way that I could have unsafe sex with her and she told
me to look for a condom.
“My lord, I was scared because I noticed the desperation in her.
I left her in the office and went downstairs to look for a condom.
When I returned, I locked the door and turned the other way to wear
the condom.
“When I turned back to meet her, she had already removed her
jean trousers; that was how we had sex. About 10 to 15 minutes
later, she told me that she was okay.
“I teased her that she was self-centred because I was yet to
release. I put back my clothes and went to the toilet to clean
myself. We stayed in the office for another 20 minutes before I saw
her off to the bus stop.”
Baruwa denied raping the complainant and said he had known her
before she was introduced to him by her father.
According to him, he took her on three or four occasions to the
university and he thought she was aged 23 years or 24 years,
because she was plump, until she allegedly told him she was
approaching her 19th birthday.
Baruwa told the court that a week after the sexual encounters,
he received a text message from the complainant’s father
threatening to deal with him for what he did to his daughter.
He said that on Aug. 3, 2015, he was arrested by the police who
were accompanied by the complainant and her father.
“It baffles me my lord, I got to realise that it was a complete
set up because I contested against her father for the Chairmanship
of Abesan Community Development Association, which I won.
“I believe it is a way of getting at me. The complainant was
never drugged by me, the coffee she took she prepared by
herself.
“We spent over five hours together and we were both active.
There were no symptoms of being drugged, my lord. As far as I am
concerned, I am innocent of the allegation against me,” he
said.
While cross-examining the defendant, Mr Y. G. Oshoala, a Deputy
Director in the state Directorate of Public Prosecution, disputed
Baruwa’s claim of innocence.
“Did you inform her father that you would be having sexual
intercourse with her? Do you know a child below 18 years is
incapable of giving consent to sex?
“If the sex was consensual, why does the medical report state
that there was severe injury to her private part? Did her father
give her to you as a wife? What will be your reaction if your
personal office is used for sexual intercourse?
“As a muslim, is it good conduct to have sexual intercourse with
someone you are not married to? Why did you lie to the
complainant’s father that you worked in Unilag and not DLI? Was it
to prey on his daughter?” Oshoala queried.
Oshoala submitted that a lot of Baruwa’s claims were not
reflected in his statements to the police.
Responding, Baruwa said: “I am not a permanent staff of Unilag,
I do not work where they process admission, but I can make
enquiries and assist.
“I was not aware that she was not yet 18 years old. I would not
be happy if my personal office was used for sexual intercourse, I
didn’t expect us to have sex on that day.
“I never told her father that she accompanied me to Unilag
before; no religion permits having sex with someone other than your
wife. I have no personal office in Unilag.
“I never deceived people about the employment status at
Unilag.”
Following Baruwa’s cross-examination, Ajanaku informed the court
that the former lecturer would be the sole defence witness, adding
that the defence would consequently close its case.
Justice Josephine Oyefeso adjourned the case until Oct. 10, for
adoption of final written addresses.
NAN reports that the prosecution alleges that the former
lecturer raped the teenager at 9.25a.m. on July 23, 2015, in Room
8, at the Faculty of Business Administration Annex building of the
University of Lagos.
The alleged rape occurred when she was in his office to make
arrangements for her admission into the university.
Following the rape allegation, the university put up a
disclaimer in respect of Baruwa.
Rape violates Section 258 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State,
2011, and can be punished with up to life imprisonment.
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