BY BOLUWAJI JEGEDE
The management of the Federal Polytechnic, Bauchi, says it has sacked two of its lecturers for sexually harassing some students of the institution.
Musa Baba Abubakar of the General Studies Department and Adebusoye Michael Sunday of the Nutrition and Dietetics Department were fired during the 98th meeting of the Governing Council of the Polytechnic, on Saturday.
Their sack was linked to a letter of complaint dated October 7, 2021, titled, ‘Emergency: PIDI-Nigeria condemns concealment of rape, sexual harassment and intimidation of two female students by Abubakar Baba, a lecturer and the management of Federal Polytechnic, Bauchi.’
The letter, written by the Human Rights Organization, Prison Inmate Development, addressed to the Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice, Ministry of Justice through the Director, Public Prosecution of the Ministry, Bauchi, and signed by Japhet Ikita, read that the management of the Federal Polytechnic Bauchi attempted to cover up Baba, “adjudged a serial rapist, sexual harasser and intimidator of female students in the institution without making it public for prosecution.”
Ikita’s letter read partly, “The lecturer, having defiled one 17-year-old female student, was caught red-handed by the Rector of the school. He has been accused of sexually molesting many female students and forcing himself on them.
“For emphasis sake, he was perhaps not ready to stop without applying any form of the big stick, when he was caught red-handed, pardoned and his colleagues apologized to the school management.”
The letter further read that the lecturers’ victims claimed that “He took a knife and threatened me that if I don’t agree to have sex with him, he will injure me. I was very scared, then he came close to me, used his hands and pulled down my clothes by the waist side leaving the rest of my clothes and raped me; there was blood and it was my first time.”
The Rector, Yahaya Gumau, denied the allegations that the school management tried to cover up the allegations against the erring lecturers, saying, “I welcome you to witness the final verdict of all that have been making waves in the media concerning the issue of our staff who was reported to have been allegedly involved in rape, Abubakar Musa Baba.
“But what surprises me the most is that it is only his own name that is being mentioned. The other lecturer’s name was silent in the media, I don’t know the reason or the rationale behind it.
“This issue of Musa Baba, came up on August 3, 2021. The extant rule of the Polytechnic is that if an issue of this magnitude happens, the complainant has to write. And immediately when she wrote, the Registrar, that very evening, was in my house with her HOD.
“I directed that the staff be queried which was the next line of action as per the extant rules of our institution as provided by the federal government. But when his reply was not satisfactory, we established a committee to investigate that matter thoroughly to its logical conclusion.
“The Council today, has finally, approved the dismissal of Abubakar Musa Baba from the service of the Polytechnic, Bauchi. Also, Adebusoye Michael Sunday is dismissed from the services of the Federal Polytechnic, Bauchi with effect from Saturday on a similar case. That is the decision of the Council on these issues.”
