A professor and former head of the department of criminology at the Federal University, Oye-Ekiti, Ekiti State, Adewole Atere, has impregnated a teena
A professor and former head of the department of criminology at the Federal University, Oye-Ekiti, Ekiti State, Adewole Atere, has impregnated a teenage student of his department, Precious Azuka. The victim, Azuka, was in her first semester at the university when she met the don in March 2017. She was 16 years old then. The brief meeting was followed by a message of love from the professor through one of his subordinates in the department, Chinedu Abrifor, a PhD holder. According to both audio and documentary records of evidence exclusively obtained by PREMIUM TIMES, Mr Abrifor simply told Azuka then that she was ‘mature enough’ for Mr Adewole Atere.
While appearing before a fact-finding committee set up by the office of the then acting dean of students’ affairs, E.O Adeyemi, Azuka said; “A few days after Dr Abrifor approached me, he accompanied Prof. Atere to my hostel and they took me to their house at Aiyegbaju where I spent the night. I was returned to the hostel by 6 a.m. the following day. This practice continued for weeks.”
The development led to disagreement between Azuka and her boyfriend, Kayode Fasanya. Mr Fasanya, who started dating Azuka, his classmate, in January 2017, quickly broke the relationship as soon as he was aware of the professor’s love affair with his girlfriend.
Less than two months into their amorous relationship, Azuka noticed she was not well. Medical test confirmed she was pregnant.
“I opted for abortion instantly but a doctor I saw said he doesn’t do it. So, when I got to the hostel, I took lipton tea and lime which made me to experience serious blood flow. When I didn’t see my menstruation the following months, I didn’t bother. I thought it had cleared,” she told the investigating team.
But by July, Azuka’s physical appearance had indicated she was pregnant. Her story was also on many lips within and outside the hostel. Because the pregnancy was already about 21 weeks, the doctor said dilation and curettage (D&C) could no longer be conducted, and thus offered to induce Azuka to labour. “I was asked to return to the hospital as soon as the foetus was expelled.”
On the morning of July 27, 2017, Azuka went into labour and expelled the foetus.
As they were busy packing the refuse at the hostel, one of the cleaners found a well wrapped cellophane bag dripping blood. The cleaner reportedly called the attention of her colleagues who noticed the freshness of the item and the need to trace its source.
“It was a Thursday morning and most of the students in the hostel had left for lectures. So it was easy to identify which room still had its occupant around. That was how Azuka was found in the room writhing in pain. She had lost so much blood that she could hardly talk,” a university source who asked not to be named said.
Azuka was rushed to the university’s clinic where she was placed on admission. She was discharged the following day, July 28, 2017. Following a petition addressed to the university by an Ado-Ekiti-based legal practitioner, Olaolu Ayodele, the acting dean of students’ affairs on August 10, 2017, caused the university’s hostel management committee to set up a fact-finding sub-committee to look into the matter.
“At the meeting, Azuka said Dr. Abrifor accused Kayode Fasanya of impregnating her, and this led to an argument which was later settled when Dr. Abrifor made a call to his wife and asked her to calculate conception from March to July. She did and said it would be between 21 to 22 weeks, which was exactly what the test result claimed.”
The report stated that the lecturer immediately apologised to Fasanya but asked him to claim responsibility to protect Prof. Atere’s image. He also promised that the money spent on the abortion would be refunded, and that Fasanya would be rewarded handsomely including good academic grades.
Rather than waiting for the outcome of the probe, Adewole Atere suddenly resigned his appointment. The manner with which he resigned has again raised fresh dusts on the campus, with some of his colleagues accusing him of abscondment and others saying he was protected by the vice-chancellor. Meanwhile, the embattled professor is now a lecturer at the Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State.
Azuka, who is now in 300 level, reiterated that Mr Atere was responsible for her pregnancy. She, however, declined further comments, saying all she wanted at this time was to graduate. She said she has since reconciled with Mr Fasanya and that they are back as lovers.
“I don’t want to talk about this matter again. I think I have survived it and I have moved on.”
