By Campus Mirror.
At first, the details were blurry. Around 9pm on the 28th of May, 2023, a WhatsApp status– which contained a screenshot trended across various OOU WhatsApp groups and could not be traced to a single source. The information read that Comrade Adeogun Moshood Feyisetan, the SUG President was detained at the police station. Was he arrested? Was he invited for questioning? The trending Whatsapp status didn't specify. However, it was specified that OOUites should move to the Police Station in solidarity.
Shortly after, another controversial information reached OOUites and just like the previous, it could not be linked to a single source. The message was simple: "please debunk any news concerning the SUG President involving in a blow-out. The union would address the issue as some comrades have taken it as a duty to water down the achievement of the present administration through blackmail. We stand as a union for the betterment of the OOU."
In a statement signed by Eluronbi Victor, the S.A to the SUG President on Media Matters revealed further information. It stated that, "there was a case that was reported to him [the SUG President] by a female student, who happened to have reported that she was raped. The President, other comrades and SAs went to confront the alleged guy who was reported to have attempted rape. On getting there, the guy trending wrong information against the president, was said to have been rude to the Union (President, Comrades and SAs) in attendance, who they (SUG) tried calming down but he wasn't cautious." As Campus Mirror observed, this statement didn't specify if the student, who was "trending wrong information" was assaulted. What the statements implied was that the student was "rude."
An official memo co-signed by the SUG President, SUG Legal Director (Adesoji Abdullateef Oshungboye) and SUG PRO (Comr. Sogunro Israel Olutunmise), confirmed an attempted rape case was brought to the notice of the SUG, and the SUG President alongside other comrades visited the house of the alleged rapist. This memo like the one signed by the Special Adviser to the SUG on Media Matters didn't specify if the student was assaulted.
Campus Mirror spoke with a source who requested to be kept anonymous. According to this source, it was gathered that the victim of the alleged assault is a member of the school football team. The source told us that "they [the SUG President and his entourage] entered the compound with flashlights pointing onto the guys' faces and the guys reacted by asking the flashlights to be brought down." The anonymous source further told us that "the union didn’t take it well and that resulted in one of the guys being beaten and told to crawl on stone."
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| Picture of the victim's legs after the alleged assault. |
Campus Mirror in its bid to get detailed information spoke with Ogunmokun Samuel Adeoye, the assaulted student. Ogunmoke's information aligns with that given by the anonymous source. However, Ogunmokun gave further details about what happened. Here are some of what we gathered from our conversation:
The victim is a recent graduate of OOU who was invited to take part in the training for the HIFI Football competition. According to the information he gave us, the SUG President and his entourage came to the hostel he was around 7pm to 8pm. He was sitting with two friends. They saw some people coming towards them whose phones' flashlights disturbed their eyes. They requested that the flashlights be lowered. A civil conversation ensued. The SUG President informed them of their motive regarding the report of an alleged attempted rape. The girl indicated that none of them was the alleged rapist. After the girl made this revelation, the SUG President allegedly made a pronouncement that if the alleged rapist wasn't located, they would be taken to the police station. This alleged pronouncement prompted a response from Samuel [the victim], who informed the SUG President that the alleged rapist is a stranger to him. The SUG President demanded he kept quiet.
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| Doctor's report that indicated that the victim sustained injuries due to assault. |
Confused about the whole incident, Samuel [the victim] who is from Sagamu Campus, asked his friend; "Is this how they [the SUG] behave in Ago? The power is much." On passively hearing Samuel's conversation with his friends, who said he was on his way to get fuel, Feyi allegedly gave a directive that he should be surrounded. After which he was slapped and punched by members of the SUG entourage.
During Campus Mirror investigation, a press statement anonymously written and signed by a "Concerned OOU Student," demanded that every authority in the university should look strictly into this and act accordingly, stating that the alleged assault of Ogunmokun isn't the first. The statement stated that "there have been instances where some female footballers were allegedly slapped by this same Mr. President some weeks back, while they were going to Aiyetoro campus for a football competition. How many students will Mr. President lay his hands upon before his administration elapses?" The statement inquired.
As at the time of this publication, there is no official response from the SUG to this allegation. When we have more information, we will definitely inform the student populace about it. In the words of Ogunmokun, " I didn't know the indigene. I didn't support the indigene or fight against the SUG. I only defended myself so that I wouldn't be arrested. I told him [the SUG President ] that I am a student, so that he can protect me. Instead, he turned at me and started beating me. That's what happened."
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