THE management of Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma has announced the promotion of Dr. Austin Aghemelo of Political Science Department into the professorial cadre, pending the ratification of the chief Dan Orbih led governing council.
The announcement made on the 15th of April, 2025, the university management announced his professorship alongside with other lecturers who are now waiting their appointment letters.
Trojaninsights.com reliably gathered that Prof. Mrs Agatha Eguavoen of the Department of Sociology and godmother of Austin Aghemelo, pressurized the Acting Vice-Chancellor, prof. Olowo Samuel to announce Austin Aghemelo’s promotion as professor, after his indictment and sack by the Special Intervention Team(SIT) under Governor Godwin Obaseki’s administration.
In 2022, post graduate students of the institution wrote separate petitions against Dr. Austin Aghemelo of Political Science Department indicting him of sexual harassment, extortion of students and manipulation of University’s extant rules of engaging the students.
The students in their petitions and copies of which were made available to Trojaninsights.com correspondent in Benin City detailed how Dr. Austin Aghemelo has been sexually harassing students (married women) in the Department of Political Science but was covered up by past administration.
As Acting Head of Department (HOD) of Political Science, he was alleged to have collected N10,000 naira cash from students for late course registration without the issuance of official receipt.
He was said to have collected N5,000 naira cash also from students without receipt who wanted a letter of “To Whom It May Concern”.
Apart from the petition, our sources in AAU accused Dr. Aghemelo of collecting a minimum of N15,000 naira cash without receipt from individual post graduate student before giving approval for them to present their seminar papers.
One of the petitioners alleged that Dr. Aghemelo collects as much as 40,000 – 100,000 naira from students under his project/thesis supervision. He went further to allege that the political science lecturer collects a minimum of N10,000 naira each from students as “blocking” in order to pass his course.
Dr. Austin Aghemelo was said to have been served a query by the Special Intervention Team(SIT) for falsification of age during the recently concluded biometrics exercise conducted by Edo State Government for all staff in AAU, Ekpoma.
In her petition, an M.sc student of Political Science under the supervision of Dr. Austin Aghemelo indicted the lecturer for sexually assaulting her since her undergraduate days in the university.
“As a punishment for turning down his request and advances for a relationship then as an undergraduate in 2001.
“This I know to the best of my knowledge is sexual Harassment which he started as far back as 2001 as an undergraduate”, the petition reads in parts.
Another petitioner, in his own petition against Dr. Austin Aghemelo titled: “SAVE MY SOUL AND ACADEMIC CAREER” brought the allegations of Dr. Austin Aghemelo’s extortionist inclination to the front burner.
“I was made to pay the sum of thirty thousand (30,000) naira only into an account sent to me by Dr. Austin Thomas Aghemelo before I was allowed to sit for the three (3) prescribed courses namely; International Relations, Comparative Politics, and Research Methods”, the two-page petition to the school authorities stated.
Dr. Austin Aghemelo could not be reached for his own side of the story at the time of filling this report.
Trojaninsights.com alleged that staff members of the university have been grumbling over the unfortunate incident.
“Promoting a staff who was dismissed by the University for embezzling over a N100 million naira of university fund as the then Chairman of Ambrose Alli University committee on revenue generation, at same time accused of several sexual indictments leading to his sack has called to question the agenda of Governor Monday Okpebholo”, sources told our correspondent.
