Covenant University has dismissed a lecturer in the institution, Dr Stephen Ukenna, for allegedly raping a 17-year-old student in his office.
The lecturer who is attached to the Department of Business Management at the university was dismissed on the order of the President of the University’s board, Bishop David Oyedepo, who is also the Chancellor of the institution.
The Police on March 11 arrested Ukenna for forcefully having unlawful carnal knowledge of the student.
According to the police, the 41-year-old lecturer was arrested following a complaint lodged at the Ota Police Area Command by the parents of the victim.
The parents while narrating the event, noted that their daughter called them on phone from the school that the lecturer invited her to his office under the pretence that he wanted to plan a surprise birthday party for her close friend.
The police said the student, however, on getting to the lecturer’s office, was locked in the office and the lecturer forcibly had sex with her on top of the table in his office.
“Yes, he has been dismissed. The female student reported at the University Chaplain and also called her parents who went to the police. That same day was the 19th matriculation ceremony of the institution, and the lecturer was arrested.”
“In fact, we handed him over to the police. His immediate dismissal was approved by the university management.”
Ukenna is an Alumnus of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Nigeria, with a Doctor of Philosophy in Marketing and he joined the employment of the Covenant University in 2017 as a lecturer in the Department of Marketing.
The spokesperson of the command, DSP Abimbola Oyeyemi, in a statement released noted that on interrogation, the lecturer admitted having carnal knowledge of the victim, but was unable to give any reason for his action.