AKURE, Nigeria — The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has exposed a harrowing case of sexual exploitation involving a female student at an undisclosed tertiary institution in Ondo State, who was allegedly coerced into a sex-for-grades ordeal by her Head of Department (HOD).
The apex student body revealed that the victim was forced to submit to sexual violations after repeatedly being failed in a compulsory course required for her graduation.
NANS President, Comrade Akinteye Babatunde, made the shocking disclosure in an official statement released to journalists on Friday, titled “Our Female Students Deserve Safety, Dignity, and Justice.”
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According to the student leadership, the victim had only one outstanding course preventing her from graduating with her academic cohort. Determined to clear the hurdle, she returned to the institution to retake the examination, only to be informed later by the department that she had failed yet again.
Seeking clarification on her persistent academic bottleneck, the student approached the lecturer, who doubles as the HOD of her department.
“The student alleged that the lecturer bluntly told her she could never pass the course,” Akinteye stated. “She further alleged that, after several encounters, the lecturer demanded that she perform a sexual act on him in his office in exchange for awarding her a passing grade.”
Trapped, vulnerable, and desperate to escape the institutional gridlock holding her future hostage, the victim reportedly succumbed to the academic blackmail.
“Feeling trapped and believing she had no other option if she wanted to graduate, she said she complied and performed oral sex as demanded by him in his office,” the NANS President disclosed.
However, the nightmare did not end there. A week after the office violation, the HOD allegedly resumed aggressive contact, repeatedly calling the traumatized student and inviting her to his private residence, explicitly implying that she must maintain the sexual relationship to secure her final graduation clearance.
Terrified by the escalating harassment, the victim bypassed internal school channels and contacted the NANS national leadership for intervention.
Akinteye explained that while his initial impulse was to publicly name and shame the predator, the victim broke down and pleaded against a public scandal, citing extreme fear of systemic victimisation, societal stigma, and further harassment.
“Disturbed and afraid, she reached out to me for help. While I am relieved that she was able to complete her academic process, I am deeply saddened that she was too afraid to publicly identify herself or the lecturer involved,” Akinteye said.
Leveraging institutional pressure behind the scenes, the NANS President contacted high-ranking administrative authorities within the Ondo institution. Within three hours of the student union’s intervention, the system processed the victim’s long-withheld paperwork, and she was cleared for graduation.
Despite the resolution of her clearance, NANS has condemned the prevailing culture of silence, fear, and administrative intimidation that shields academic predators across Nigerian campuses.
“This reflects the fear, intimidation, and stigma that many female students face when confronted with sexual harassment. No student should ever be forced to exchange sexual favours for academic success,” the statement read, stressing that tertiary institutions must remain sanctuaries of learning rather than hunting grounds for predatory faculty.
Efforts by correspondents to secure reactions from the affected institution were unsuccessful at the time of filing this report, as NANS deliberately withheld the name of the school, the lecturer, and the victim to protect the student from institutional retaliation.
With academic exploitation remaining a persistent challenge across public and private campuses, NANS has urged female students nationwide who are facing similar exploitation to report directly to the National Director of Gender of the association, promising professional, airtight confidentiality and robust defense of their rights.
