25th October, 2023
By Adejoke Adeleye
Ogun State Government has vowed to bring to book rapists who raped students of Tai Solarin University of Education (TASUED).
The government, while addressing the issue assured the students and the residents of Abapawa that it would do everything humanly possible to bring to book the perpetrators of the unfortunate robbery and rape incident in the area, stressing that they would not go unpunished.
Giving the assurances was the State Deputy Governor, Engr Noimot Salako-Oyedele who paid a visit to the victims who were students of the University at the State Hospital, Ijebu Ode, before they were moved to the Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital, Sagamu to ensure proper health care and rehabilitation under the instruction of the state government.
According to Salako-Oyedele, the state government was notified of the unfortunate occurrence which happened during a robbery incident at the Abapawa area of Ogun State in the early hours of Tuesday, 24th October 2023 by the Local Government Chairman.
She said on instructions of the governor, security operatives led by the Area Commander of the Nigeria Police Force were dispatched to the scene of the incident.
She said that the Commissioner of Police had personally been to the scene of the incident since it was first reported and was working assiduously to ensure the culprits were apprehended to face the full wrath of the law.
Speaking later at a meeting with the University management team, representatives of the student body, the Commissioner for Education Science and Technology, Prof Abayomi Arigbabu as well as Commissioner of Police, Mr Abiodun Alamutu, Salako-Oyedele stressed the need to forestall further recurrence as it was one of the worst crimes against humanity.
“I am on a fact-finding mission to establish what happened and what could be done to support the victims immediately and subsequently, apprehend the criminals and of course, prevent such a thing happening again,” she said.
The Deputy Governor charged the school management to work with the concerned community, the police and the students to develop stakeholder engagements to put in place mechanisms that would guarantee that the lives and properties of the students who live off campus are secured.
The State Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Prof Abayomi Arigbabu, said the news of the incident was very disheartening, promising the aggrieved students union representatives that the government would do everything humanly possible to apprehend the criminals.
Also speaking, the Chairman Odogbolu local government, Ladejobi Adebayo, said the present administration in the state led by Prince Dapo Abiodun is a responsive government, assuring students and management of the school that the government would not fold its arms on the issue until justice is served.
The State Commissioner for Police, Abiodun Alamutu, expressed his heartfelt sympathy to the victims of the ugly incident, attributing it to a lack of synergy among the security personnel in the communities where students reside, while also assuring that the perpetrators would be brought to book.
Tai Solarin University of Education’s Deputy Vice Chancellor, Prof. Adekunle Adeogun, said the school management was bitter about the incident, explaining that since the incident happened, the school management had been doing all within its power to support the victims, appealing to the state government for more support to nip further occurrence in the bud.
The Students Union President TASUED, Akinjetan Hamed, expressed displeasure about the incident, saying there was the need for the management of the school to put in place a strong security apparatus to curtail further occurrences as well as direct private hostel owners to put in place adequate security measures in their respective hostels.