OAU denies claim lecturer stole students’ phones in exam hall

The management of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) has dismissed rumours that a lecturer of the institution stole students’ phones while they were writing exams.

On Wednesday, a video showing security operatives taking a man out of a facility after arresting him surfaced online and went viral.

Some social media users claimed the man was a lecturer at OAU assigned to invigilate an exam.

But in a statement, Abiodun Olanrewaju, the institution’s spokesperson, said the arrested suspect was neither a staff nor a student of the varsity.

“The attention of the management of OAU, Ile-Ife, has been drawn to a viral video where a male young adult was allegedly involved in stealing the phones of some students who were in the examination hall,” he said.

“While some alleged that he was a lecturer, others said that he was an invigilator. The culprit was neither a lecturer in any of our departments nor a student of our university.”

Speaking further, Olanrewaju said “a well-dressed man” wearing a suit had entered the campus and was later found stealing phones from the bags of students who were sitting for their examinations.

The spokesperson said the suspect’s mode of dressing made people assume that he was a lecturer assigned to invigilate the examination.

“We, therefore, want the general public to disregard, in its entirety, the insinuation that the culprit has any link with the University,” he added.