Nigerian gay student resigns after rape scandal

Allegedly a Nigerian (Nigerian Times), Annie Teriba, the gay student activist from Oxford University, has resigned following a sex-related scandal with her involvement.

According to The Guardian, the third-year student of Wadham college confessed to having begun physical relationships with a person at the NUS black students’ conference without the full consent of the partner, as it turned out later.

The activist lamented over the unfortunate development through the statement published by the Oxford University magazine Cherwell. She blamed herself for having failed to ensure the act was consensual.

See her message in full below:

“This statement explains why I will be stepping back from political campaigning from now.

“(I owe you a proper explanation, so will go into details here which you may find triggering.)

“At this year’s NUS black students’ conference, I had sex with someone. The other party later informed me that the sex was not consensual. I failed to properly establish consent before every act. I apologise sincerely and profoundly for my actions. I should have taken sufficient steps to ensure that everything I did was consensual. I should have been more attentive to the person’s body language. In failing to clarify that the person consented to our entire encounter, I have caused serious irreparable harm.

“In a separate incident, in my first year of university, I was alerted to my inappropriate behaviour whilst drunk in a club, where I had touched somebody in a sexual manner without their consent. Therefore this is not an isolated incident. I apologise sincerely and profoundly for my actions.

“With these incidents I have rightly lost the trust of those who I organise with and fully intend to work to ensure that I both put my politics into practice in my personal relations and to prove to them that I am committed to transformation. As such, it would be wrong of me to accept platforms and access spaces until I have done so.

“In order to ensure the safety of others, I will be taking a number of steps:

i) I breached NUS’s safe spaces policy, so will not be attending future NUS events.

ii) I am resigning from all the political positions I hold – from NCAFC’s National Committee and from the NUS’s black students’ committee, and as editor of the No Heterox** zine and as the people of colour and racial equality officer at Wadham SU, Oxford.

iii) I will be stepping back from prominent campaigning in other forums, including #RhodesMustFall and rs21.

iv) I commit to getting help with how I consume alcohol. It is clear that I lack self-awareness and become sexually entitled when I am drunk. This does not excuse my actions, I am wholly responsible for the damage that I have caused.

v) I commit to educating myself properly about consent by reading zines and other materials which have kindly been made available to me.

vi) I commit to seeking help from perpetrator organisations – for example, I have taken steps to establish contact with RESPECT and will be seeking out organisations who specifically deal with sexual violence.

“I am deeply sorry for the hurt I caused.”