PRESS STATEMENT
10/10/2019

Firstly, we express our profound gratitude to BBC News Africa for the investigative report that was released earlier this week. The video documentary which exposed the prevalence of one of the very elements that narrate the experiences of students in West Africa – sexual harassment. We owe a huge gratitude to the team of brave ladies and men led by Kiki Mordi to uncover this menace that has eaten deep for decades into Nigeria’s higher education system.


Nigeria since the beginning of this year have experienced her largest suicide occurrences with over 90% of the suicide cases – that rank Nigeria top position in the world – is found among the student population. While many still in the shock and mystery that our future leaders resolving to taking their own lives from the daily news, we were yet faced with the issue of mass shooting of students by the police in Ekiti and Nasarawa just late last month. We need not talk about the routine of kidnaps and daylight robberies of students by agents of SARS, EFCC and School Securities. Now this.

This “scourge” as was termed by the honorable Speaker of Nigeria House of Rep, Hon. Gbajabiamila, in his tweet reaction to the release of the video has been a grave concern to the student population and a big blow to whatsoever we call a value system as a region or individual nations. UNILAG in reaction to the saga released a public statement of the suspension of two of the university senior lecturers incriminated in the video with the names: Dr. Boniface Igbenuhue and Dr. Samuel Oladipo. They condemned the act and re-affirmed their “zero tolerance for sexual harassment.”

However, it takes more than public empathies from our public officials and empty slogans of “zero tolerance” from school managements to salvage the mess our higher education system has become or mitigate the harms – physically, psychologically and economically- that the regressive norms on our campuses have caused in the lives of the majority of our schooling youth. Much cases from the past were exhumed that, to our surprise, were followed by vain “suspension” statements of involved lecturers with no criminal trial. Other students spoke of their ordeals in the department by the level of stigmatization the victim get from staff and fellow students owing to the mass repercussion inflicted by other lecturers of the “ cult of department’s male lecturers who brag about the numbers of students they have each slept with and the ones they are planning to”, said one of the students.

In our random interviews with students, the documentary videos and the interactions online since the incident, we have been afforded various perspectives to the fabric of the issue using real life experiences of victims. How the system of our campuses are built strategically to enslave our students and shut their voices. How the schools create ambient environment, or rather “cold rooms” to favour the culture of sexual slavery. How parents have been extremely relaxed and insensitive to the quiet agonies of their wards. How a lack of proper orientation leave the students in helpless and defeatist admonitions. And ultimately the lack of a reliable criminal justice system to protect the safety of students and achieve them closure when they are violated.

In reaction to the release of this revelational video and the need to change the narrative of shift blaming on the victims of sexual abuse on campus, our public relations team initiated a social media campaign – #COMEOUT – to create a platform for past and present victims of sexual abuse or harassment by lecturers in West African higher institutions to reach out for help. Immediately, we started receiving complaints from all over Nigerian schools that indict scores of lecturers and administrators. We created casefiles for all victims and their alleged abusers for further investigation and appropriate prosecutions.

As a foundation established with a singular mission to be the voice of students seeking their safety and development, we want to thank the public and especially those who since have joined our campaign in encouraging victims to come out for justice. We charge everyone to join in our fight for students in our region and most especially in Nigeria. “This fight is not just for the past and present victims whom we rage to give justice, but to secure the future of our children, we need to create a safe and progressive education” –

SIGNED:

Olympus Ade-Banjo, President HELP Foundation for Students.