Gift Mosobolaje, a sophomore at the Obafemi Awolowo University in Ile-Ife, Osun State, who was assaulted by one Dr. Ariyo, a lecturer at the college, has narrated his experience.

As seen in a video first shared by Lere Olayinka, a former spokesperson to the Governor of Ekiti State, the lecturer asked Mosobolaje to switch his phone off, but he refused to comply with the directive. In anger, Dr. Ariyo took the phone forcefully from the student and then pushed him.

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 making an attempt 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!”

After the video of the lecturer’s actions, the management of the university, according to Abiodun Olanrewaju, its spokesperson, condemned the action of the lecturer and began a probe into the matter.

Stating what happened between him and the lecturer earlier today after an inaccurate account was shared on television, Mosobolaji said that he had a class for 8 am on Wednesday, which was supposed to be held at that lecture theatre, but on arriving at the venue, he realised that it wasn’t his class because there were unfamiliar faces.

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He said that he stepped out immediately after that realisation and was on his way down the stairs when a student called him back to inform him that the lecturer in the theatre was calling for him.

Mosobolaji said that he went back to the theatre to respond to the lecturer’s call but as soon as he did, he was quizzed.

“Why are you in my class, and who are you impersonating?” Mosobolaji quoted the lecturer as saying. He said the students in the class laughed, and he too joined, thinking it was a joke because he wondered how a sophomore would impersonate a final-year student.

He said that he explained to the lecturer that he was not impersonating anyone but that he entered the wrong class but the lecturer disbelieved him and insisted that he indeed came to impersonate someone.

“He said he was going to arrest me and take me to the school’s chief security officer. Next, he sent a student to call security on me. While the student was at that, he asked, “Why do you have this type of hair?”

He said he told the lecturer it was his natural hair but the lecturer said he was lying and then asked for his student identity card, which he gave him without hesitating. By this time, a security official was already present.

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“He gave the security man my ID card and told him to take me away. I immediately tried to make a call to my brother, who is also a student, and my mother to inform them about what was happening and that they might not be able to reach me because I’d be at the security’s post,” he said.

“He then said I shouldn’t call anyone, switched off the phone, and then asked me to hand it over, but I did not because I didn’t know my offence and I just wanted to know what I did wrong.

“The security official began to drag me by my trousers. I told him to leave me alone, but he kept dragging me. Dr. Ariyo then took it up from the security official and tried to forcefully collect my phone.

“In the process, he strangled my neck to the wall, broke my phone screen, broke my right index finger, tore my trousers, and, after collecting the phone, punched me on the back of my head. The security man then dragged me out by my trousers aggressively while I was screaming and asking, ‘What have I done?’ and ‘Why are you dragging me like a thief?'”