Published 20th Apr, 2022

By Daniel Ojukwu

Former students of the Department of Mass Communication, Yaba College of Technology (YABATECH), Yaba, Lago State, have narrated how Akindele Omotosho, a lecturer in the department, sexually harassed them.

Motunde Olabanjo (not real name), a graduate of the institution, told FIJ that on the day she wrote her final examination in 2019, Omotosho used a marker to sign his name on her ‘chest’, and against her will.

Olabanjo said she had worn a plain white T-shirt to school during the period, to partake in the usual ritual of graduating students signing on each other’s shirts.

“Because I did not want anyone to sign on my ‘chest’, I had a female friend write ‘Eyiaro’ in bold fonts across that area,” she said.

Olabanjo’s shirt with ‘Eyiaro’ written across her breast area before Omotosho approached her

During the same period, Olabanjo said she ran into Omotosho, who despite her protests forcefully signed his name in ‘a sensitive area’ around her chest.

“He had been asking me out and would always make attempts to have his way with me during my time as a student. On one occasion, he was just staring at me like a hungry dog,” she said.

“During my project defence, he was extra hard on me. He sent me out to go and borrow a blazer to cover my cleavage, and I swear to you, there was no cleavage showing.

Moment Omotosho Signed On Olabanjo’s Friend’s Shirt

“On our ‘signing out’, I can present the shirt, he told me to come, and said he wanted to sign too. I was reluctant at first and even turned down his offer. But he persisted. In the end, I gave him a marker, pleading with him not to sign on the area where ‘Eyiaro’ was written. But the dude still found a way and signed right on my right breast!

“He wrote ‘Omot.’, the short form of his name, inside the ‘E’.

“I snapped him when he was signing on my friend’s shirt and he only signed by the side. I was hoping he would do the same when it came to my turn too, but, he went for my breast!”

The shirt still bears his name, a sad highlight from that day. She never washed it.

OMOTOSHO SAID HE MUST F**K ME BEFORE I GRADUATE — VICTIM

Shalon Okpalachukwu (name concealed for anonymity), another student that was harassed by Omotosho, told FIJ that in the first semester of her first year in YABATECH, the lecturer walked up to her to vow that he was going to have sex with her before she graduated from the school.

She said he had been making offensive remarks about her body prior to that day, and had also on one occasion, asked her to kiss him and be his date to the department’s dinner night.

“He used to text me but I deleted the chats long ago. One day, I came late to school, wearing a gown. When he saw me, he told my class governor to bring me to his office,” she told FIJ.

“When I got to his office, he asked me to kiss him and be his date to the departmental dinner.

“Another day, he saw me on campus and walked up to me to say, ‘I am still going to f**k you before you leave this school’ and he left.”

When FIJ approached the lecturer for comments, he said he would not give comments over the phone.

He also said he would only grant audience if this reporter could come to his office. He further demanded that evidence from the allegation be presented to him via WhatsApp.

At press time, he had not responded to the allegations.

FIJ had earlier reported a student’s account of how Omotosho kissed her in his office, and how other students had narrated their experiences of sexual harassment in his hands.

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