ASUU to petition NDLEA on ‘drug use’ by UNILORIN student who beat up lecturer

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) at the University of Ilorin (UNILORIN) has condemned the assault of one of its female lecturers by a student of the institution.

Rahmat Zakariyyah, the lecturer in the faculty of life sciences, was said to have been beaten to a coma by a 400 Level student of the department of microbiology identified as Salaudeen Waliyu.

The student was alleged to have attacked the lecturer in her office because she refused to help him following his failure to do the mandatory students’ industrial Work experience scheme (SIWES).

Speaking with NAN, Moyosore Ajao, ASUU chairman at the varsity, said the union will petition the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) to examine the possibility that Waliyu was under the influence of drugs when the incident transpired.

“You can’t have a student population of over 50,000 and you expect all of them to be disciplined,” Ajao said.

“Whether under the influence of drugs or whatever is immaterial to ASUU.

“If he is under the influence of drugs, he left his house, are you telling me he did not see anybody, why did he choose to attack the particular lecturer?

“I expect the NDLEA to swing into action. The union will petition to say, ‘these are the people you are looking for, you have had one and we are yet to hear anything.”

Ajao added that ASUU would never allow “this dastardly act to go unaddressed”.

“It is not just because the lecturer is a female but because she is a human being and violence is never tolerated in ASUU, more or less in a university where character and learning are the essences of it,” the chairman said.

“ASUU is patiently waiting on what the university management is going to do before we now apply our own action.

“But I can tell you that the union is not sleeping on the matter and we are never going to allow such matters to be swept under the carpet.”

According to him, the case has already been reported to the law enforcement agencies.