A Nigerian university has come under fire after a video showing female students being physically checked for bras before an examination went viral, triggering widespread condemnation and raising serious concerns about students’ rights. The BBC, which reported on the incident, confirmed the footage was taken at Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU) in south-western Ogun State.
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Controversial checks at exam hall
The video, widely circulated on social media, shows female staff members touching the chests of young women standing in line to enter an examination hall. The alleged purpose was to determine whether they were wearing bras—a requirement linked to the university’s dress code policies.
The university has not issued an official statement regarding the footage. However, a student leader defended the practice, saying it was part of maintaining a “distraction-free environment”. Despite the justification, he admitted that better methods should be employed to enforce the policy and acknowledged the criticisms labelling the practice as sexist and demeaning.
Legal implications and human rights backlash
Haruna Ayagi, a senior official at the Human Rights Network, told the BBC that the policy could face legal repercussions. “Unwarranted touches on another person’s body is a violation and could lead to legal action. The university is wrong to adopt this method to curb indecent dressing,” he said.
Students’ union responds
In response to the backlash, Muizz Olatunji, president of the university’s students’ union, posted a statement on X (formerly Twitter), reiterating the institution’s intent behind the dress code. “The university promotes a dress-code policy aimed at maintaining a respectful and distraction-free environment,” he wrote, stressing that students were encouraged to dress modestly in line with institutional values.
He added that the policy was longstanding and that the union was working with university authorities to “explore alternative approaches to addressing indecent dressing, focusing on respectful and dignified interactions between students and staff.”
Olatunji also shared the official dress code, which bans clothing “capable of making the same or opposite sex to lust after the student in an indecent manner.”
Founded in 1982 as Ogun State University and renamed in 2001 after former state governor Olabisi Onabanjo, the institution is now at the centre of a growing controversy over students’ rights, privacy, and gender-based policies.
