UNILAG student recounts rape ordeal in lecturer’s underground office

A 20-year-old undergraduate of the University of Lagos has testified before an Ikeja High Court, narrating in detail how her lecturer, Dr Samuel Ojogbo, allegedly lured her into a windowless underground office and raped her following an examination in August 2025.

Giving evidence on Tuesday under examination-in-chief by state counsel Owolabi Azeez, the student said the incident began on August 21, 2025, when Ojogbo approached her during an exam and asked whether the questions reflected her preparation.

“I said yes, I knew a section better. He told me not to worry and to see him after the exam,” she told the court.

She said she visited his office twice that day but did not find him. The following day, August 22, the defendant supervised another examination she sat. After the exam, she said, he asked her to wait.

The student testified that she followed Ojogbo to an underground office that had no windows and no secretary.

While they were discussing the exam, two other students entered — and the defendant dismissed them and instructed her to shut the door.

“As I closed it, he stood behind me, pushed me onto a couch and began touching me. He caressed me, forced himself on me and raped me,” she said, weeping in the witness box.

She said that after the assault, Ojogbo told her he would supervise her final-year project and collected her phone number. She left the office in tears and immediately confided in a friend.

The two subsequently reported the incident to a lecturer, who contacted the student’s uncle — also a faculty member in the department. They proceeded to the Head of Department’s office, where the student said the response was dismissive.

“He asked for evidence and why I did not record it. The defendant denied the allegation. The HoD advised us to let it go and be more careful with lecturers,” she testified.

Her uncle insisted on formal action. A complaint was filed with Servicom and the student was taken to the university medical centre.

The matter was subsequently reported to the Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency, which referred her to Bariga Police Station and the Women at Risk International Foundation (WARIF) for further tests. The case was later transferred to the gender unit of the police.

The student also disclosed that the defendant’s family subsequently sought a meeting.

Justice Oyindamola Ogala adjourned the case until April 27 for cross-examination of the witness.

Ojogbo faces a two-count charge of sexual assault and rape brought by the Lagos State Government.

The prosecution says the alleged offences contravene Sections 260 and 263(1) of the Lagos State Criminal Law, 2015, which prescribe life imprisonment upon conviction.