Group condemns raping of LAUTECH students

A WOMEN advocacy group, Women Against Rape, Sexual Harassment and Sexual Exploitation (WARSHE) has faulted serial cases of rape, sexual assault and other forms of sexual violence against students of the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Ogbomoso by suspected hoodlums.

The group described the action as brutal and violation of rights of innocent girls.

There have been reports about some hoodlums raping LAUTECH female students and forcing their male counterparts to rape female students after dispossessing them of their valuables.

Worried by the development, the state House of Assembly last week mandated the police command to beef up security in Ogbomoso particularly around the campus and student hostels.

The group in a statement made available to reporters condemned the act describing it as highly insensitive.

The group insisted that the Nigerian constitution frowns seriously at the offense of rape, stressing that it imposes life sentence as punishment for anyone found guilty of the offence. It explained, for emphasis, that the punishment is the same for anyone found guilty of murder.

The statement, which was signed by its Programme Officer, Titilope Olanrewaju, read in part: “It is based on this that WARSHE thereby considers this latest act of the LAUTECH rapists as highly barbaric, inhuman and despicable, particularly in this day and age.”