‘Mr Lecture’, a popular song by legendary Nigerian artiste, Eedris Abdulkareem, comes to mind as aggrieved female law students of the University of Calabar (UNICAL) protest against alleged sexual harassment.
Development Diaries reports that the students besieged the office of the institution’s Vice Chancellor, Professor Florence Obi, demanding the immediate removal of the Dean of the Faculty of Law, Professor Cyril Ndifon, for allegedly sexually harassing them.
These students, it is understood, were also being threatened by the establishment for protesting, as alleged by a Twitter user, @Ada_mummyya, in a viral video of the protest.
Unical female Law students have called out their Dean, Prof Cyril Ndifon. Right now they are being threatened and shushed by the establishment.
Lend your voice! #CyrilNdifonMustGo#ProtectOurGirls pic.twitter.com/xrlsB20ctN
— Where is Chijioke? (@Ada_mummyya) August 14, 2023
Quite interesting is the fact that the said dean has been previously accused of raping a female student in his office.
BarristerNG reported in December 2022 that after a preliminary investigation by the University Management, Professor Ndifon was indicted and suspended as staff of the university.
However, he was reinstated by the school authorities.
Why did the university reinstate someone who was indicted in a rape case? This calls to question the moral standards of the university in handling such cases.
According to the Sexual Offences Act 2013, anyone who is guilty of compelling or inducing indecent acts commits an offence and is liable upon conviction to imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than five years.
Sexual harassment remains unchecked in tertiary institutions in Nigeria despite various reports which have exposed confirmed cases.
Development Diaries calls on the UNICAL authorities to immediately suspend Professor Ndifon and carry out a thorough and unbiased investigation into the allegations.
We also call on President Bola Tinubu to sign into law the proposed anti-sexual harassment bill, which seeks to promote and protect ethical standards in tertiary institutions by protecting students against sexual harassment by educators.
