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Anchor University Lagos, a private institution owned by the Deeper Christian Life Ministry, is under scrutiny following allegations of negligence and mishandling of an incident involving the harassment of a female student by an unskilled labourer.
The student, Evangel Ganiyu, shared her experience on Saturday via X, under the account Dragana (#draganaismother), sparking widespread outrage.
According to Ganiyu, the university is undergoing extensive renovations to accommodate new students, with unskilled workers hired to assist in the efforts.
On the day of the incident, Ganiyu woke up to find a male worker, later identified as Uche Okoro, lying beside her in bed, nearly naked.
“I thought it was my friend who had slept over. It wasn’t,” she wrote on Saturday in a series of tweets detailing the incident.
Shocked and terrified, Ganiyu screamed for the man to leave and immediately reported the situation to the hostel porter, who escalated the matter to the supervisor.
The supervisor asked Ganiyu to identify the worker from a lineup, which she did, despite Okoro denying the allegations. It wasn’t until another female student reported that the same man had been peeping at her in the bathroom that Okoro began to plead for forgiveness.
“The people around gave him a minor beating,” Ganiyu said, adding that the porters, along with the head of the workers, urged her to forgive him, suggesting he was “probably under the influence” and “just a small boy.”
Despite the pressure, Ganiyu contacted her father and then took the matter to the university’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Samuel Oye Bandele. However, the response she received left her further distressed.
According to Ganiyu, the Vice-Chancellor questioned her integrity, asking if her clothes and underwear were still on during the incident. When she affirmed that they were, Bandele allegedly accused her of being “economical with the truth” and implied she was a “bad girl.”
She said, “My supervisor then took me to the Vice-Chancellor’s office to explain the situation. I told him what had happened. He proceeded to ask me the following questions: ‘Were your clothes on?’ ‘Was your underwear on?’ to which I answered yes and yes.
“He then asked me how old I was. I told him. He then said that I was not a two-year-old girl and asked how I wouldn’t know if a man had penetrated me.
“He then said that I am a bad girl, that I am being economical with the truth, and that I should be tested (by a male doctor, by the way) because I was being shady.”
Ganiyu described the response as an attempt to shame and dismiss her account.
“This is not the first time something like this has happened in this school, where a female student is abused, and the school tries to cover it up by shaming her or telling her to forgive and forget,” she said, calling for accountability.
Ganiyu’s tweets have since attracted attention, with many calling for Anchor University to address what appears to be a pattern of discrimination and mistreatment of female students.
“I have had multiple bad experiences in this school, and I have never received justice. Please don’t let it happen again. Please hold Anchor University accountable for the multiple ways they discriminate against their female students,” she said.
Meanwhile, reacting to the allegations via Instagram on Sunday, the university management claimed that the truth wasn’t accurately represented.
The statement read, “The attention of the University has been drawn to a post made by @draganaismother (Evangel Ganiyu) on X (formerly Twitter) regarding sexual assault.
“This is not being presented as the whole truth. The incident occurred on Saturday, 28th September 2024. An unskilled worker hired by a contractor handling the renovation and restructuring of one of the female halls of residence was caught in the room of the said student half-naked.
“AUL is not in session, but we have just concluded a series of holiday programmes, among which are ATS, trainee ICAN students, and summer school programmes.
“According to the lady, she screamed when she woke up to find this worker beside her. After interrogations from the porters, the hostel supervisor, and the security staff, the hostel supervisor, Mrs Grace Abodunde, brought the case to the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Samuel Oye Bandele, in the company of the student.
“The student was asked to explain what had happened to the VC, and further interrogations were carried out.”
However, the Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency responded to the post on X, saying, “Kindly call our toll-free line – 08000 333 333 to make a report immediately. Alternatively, send us a number you can be contacted on via DM.”
