Our Students are not involved in bankers murder-VC

The Vice-Chancellor, Redeemer's University,
Mowe, Ogun State, Prof. Debo Adeyewa, in
this interview with SEGUN OLUGBILE,
speaks on the deepening involvement of
undergraduates in drugs
Recently, a student of this university was
arrested for the alleged murder of a
banker, while some others were said to
be involved in illicit drugs. Why are these
things happening in a faith-based
university such as yours?
I know that these issues will come up in
this interview but let me say that at RUN,
we don't hide evil. Why? This is God's own
university and if you know God, you will
discover that He never sweeps any issue
under the carpet, no matter your
relationship with Him.
That is why He called David an adulterer
and a murderer, even when he was a king.
It is true that one of our students was
arrested by the police for an alleged
involvement in the death of a banker. But
the truth of the matter is that the young
man was not in any way involved in the
murder.
What happened was that his Blackberry
phone was stolen. But rather than report
the loss to the police or the parents, he just
kept mum. Those who stole the phone sold
it to another person who happened to
belong to a murderous gang. You know
that the BB device has a pin number that is
allotted to its owner, so it was through this
that the young man was caught by the
police who thought that he had a hand in
the murder. But thank God for his father
who used his own resources to obtain the
call logs made before and after the BB was
stolen from the service provider.
It was through this that it was discovered
that the student never had any connection
with the banker. However, the office of the
Director of Public Prosecution is still with
the fact of the case and we believe that he
will be finally be totally free because he has
not
been found guilty by the court of law.
He maintained his innocence when he was
interrogated by the police and his
testimony was in tandem with that of his
father. As far as we are concerned, he is
innocent and, as a university, we are
praying for him. I'm sure the DPP will not
include him in the case if the state decides
to prosecute the suspects.
What about those involved in illicit drugs
and the impression being created by
some critics that private universities are
now home to all manner of vices?
Let me correct the impression that private
universities accommodate irresponsible
behaviour. That is not correct. You should
know that most of these students have
formed their habits before they come to
the university. Some had been into drugs
since they were in the secondary school.
For instance, some of the students
involved in illicit drugs and were caught at
RUN did not start this habit in the
university. We discovered that they started
from the secondary school. We
investigated one of them and we
discovered that the young man get into
drugs when he was in secondary school. It
is rampant in our society, no thanks to the
way and manner celebrated icons with no
moral values are being respected in the
country.
Another reason why it is rampant is
because young people are running away
from realities by becoming increasingly
rebellious, thinking that since government
does not care for them, they will resort to
other means of finding fulfilment. It is
becoming endemic, but why are we talking
about it in RUN when other institutions are
keeping quiet as if all is well? We are doing
so because we don't want to hide it. We
know that there is a problem and that was
why when we noticed it, we declared an
amnesty by calling on any of our students
that has drug problems to come out so that
we can collaborate with them and their
parents to help them.
Did any student take advantage of the
policy?
Well, we stressed that whoever came out
would be forgiven, while whoever refused
to do so would be expelled if caught. Only
two of them came out. But later, we caught
one who was discovered to be the major
distributor of illicit drugs with retail outlets
on campus. When he was caught, he knew
his days on campus were numbered and
he said we should let him go. Yet we told
him: 'Before you go, tell us your
collaborators.' He did. But we also did our
own findings and we invited all of them
for urine test to help us make informed
decisions based on medical test. Those
who tested positive were made to face a
disciplinary committee in line with the
university regulations.
We followed due process and at the end of
the exercise, 12 of them were to face
expulsion, but some parents and even
some of them pleaded that they should not
be expelled. We considered their plea but
sent the students involved to CADAM, a
ministry involved in the rehabilitation of
drug addicts, for a year to undergo our
Recovery of Destiny (ROD) scheme. If they
showed enough remorse and the
management of CADAM said that they could
be called back, we would reabsorb them.
Eleven of the affected students agreed to
go to CADAM, but one took the university to
court. Thank God,
the court has thrown out
the suit and the 11 students that went to
CADAM are now doing well.
What gave you the strong belief that the
problem is over with the 11 repentant
students, knowing how difficult it is to
tame addiction?
I personally interviewed the boys and I'm
convinced that they have changed. In fact,
they are now spearheading a campaign
against drugs. Some of them have gained
new skills in music and they are back on
campus doing well in their academics. But
the one that went to court, backed by his
parents, is the loser.

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