The management of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) has launched an investigation into an incident involving a lecturer and a student.
On Wednesday, a second-year student named Gift walked into a lecture room where Dr Ariyo was conducting a class.
It was gathered that Gift made attempt to exit the class when he realised he mistook it for the one he was to attend but was called back by the lecturer.
In one of the videos of the incident that circulated online, the student was seen struggling with a man said to be a security official. The student was also seen making an attempt to use his phone when the lecturer shouted, “Don’t call anybody! Switch off that phone! You can’t be more than me, even if you’re the VC’s son, I won’t take this from you. Switch off the phone!”
“What did I do?” Gift replied.
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After some seconds, the lecturer was seen struggling to take the phone from the student whose back was already on the wall. He was subsequently seen throwing a punch at the student afterward as other students in the class watched in amazement.
Spokesperson of the Students’ Union Elijah Omisore has condemned the incident, saying the lecturer should apologise.
“We demand an open hearing and a public apology from Dr Ariyo, to the generality of Great Ife students; That the lecturer and the entire department make a commitment that the victim and other students in the class won’t face any form of victimisation moving forward,” a statement by the union said.
The university’s public relations officer Abiodun Olarewaju said, “We’ve seen the video. The Vice-Chancellor is not happy about it. We are not known for such behaviour and we have decided to go administrative concerning this and we will make our findings known. But for the main time, we just want the students to remain calm. The VC has called the dean of the faculty involved, who will get in touch with the head of department and get in touch with that lecturer.”
