The University of Lagos on Monday issued a set of counselling tips for female students aimed at preventing sexual harassment and rape on campus.
The advisory, through its Student Affairs Division, displayed on a roll-up banner within the university, comes against the backdrop of reported cases of assault and rape in the institution.
The banner urges female students to adopt precautionary measures, with one of its most prominent messages advising against shaking hands with men indiscriminately.
Other safety tips on the banner caution against dressing provocatively, mingling carelessly with men, staying alone with a man in a hidden place, seeking unnecessary favours from men, watching pornographic material, and accepting intoxicants without vigilance when served drinks. The banner also urges students not to give in to pressure and to be assertive, encouraging them to learn to say no, while warning that a single instance of sex can result in pregnancy.
According to the Student Affairs Division, the guidance forms part of its counselling efforts to educate female students on personal safety and ways to reduce the risk of sexual harassment and rape while on campus.
The University of Lagos has, in recent years, recorded incidents of sexual assault and rape within its community, prompting various awareness and counselling initiatives targeted at promoting students’ safety.
In April, PUNCH Healthwise reported that a 20-year-old undergraduate of the university told an Ikeja High Court that she was allegedly raped by her lecturer, Dr Samuel Ojogbo.
The student, who testified during proceedings, made the allegation while being led in evidence by State Counsel, Mr Owolabi Azeez. She told the court that the incident allegedly occurred on August 22, 2025, in the lecturer’s underground office within the university premises.
According to her, the defendant had engaged her during an examination on August 21 and later asked her to see him after the paper. She recalled that she had responded that she was familiar with a section of the material, and that he told her not to worry and to see him after the exam.
The student added that she visited his office twice but did not meet him until the following day during another examination he supervised, after which he asked her to wait.
In 2019, the Lagos State government arraigned five students of the institution for gang-raping a 17-year-old student, whose name was withheld.
