Unical VC speaks on sexual abuse allegations against law professor

The University of Calabar says it is investigating allegations of sexual abuse against the head of the school’s law faculty.

The vice chancellor, Florence Obi, told Pluboard the school management had intervened and will address concerns raised by law students on Monday.

Female law students on Monday held a protest accusing the dean of the faculty, Professor Cyril Ndifon, of sexual abuse.

A video clip of the protest posted on Twitter showed the students, alongside their male colleagues, dressed in black and white uniforms, carrying placards and chanting songs.

“Faculty of Law is unsafe for the girl child,” one sign read. Another said: “Prof Ndifon, let girls with big breasts breathe. Stop suffocating us.”

We could not immediately reach Mr Ndifon. The lecturer told Premium Times he did nothing wrong and blamed his colleague teachers for the protest. He said they instigated the students because he won the dean election.

“Ask the lecturers who are behind these things. I won an election. You should ask them if this man is that bad and unpopular, how come he won an election as dean with a landslide for the first and second term,” he told the paper.

The vice chancellor, Mrs Obi, said we “are looking critically into the happenings in the law faculty.”

Mrs Obi said the students raised several issues besides the sexual harassment, and said the management will meet with law faculty to address all the allegations.

“Yesterday (Monday), the university management met with the law faculty management and discussed the alleged manipulations of the Law School list. We are looking at it,” she told Pluboard.

“The management will again meet today (Tuesday) and address all the issues raised by students.”

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Mr Ndifon is not new to allegations of sexual harassment. The university in 2015 suspended him over allegations of raping a 20-year-old law student in his office, an allegation he challenged in court.

He was later recalled and reinstated as dean of faculty after the suspension was lifted.

The vice-chancellor told this newspaper the professor was reinstated after he won the court case.

“These are all legal issues, the last time they went to court and l learnt he won his case and (University) Council reinstated him,” she said.

“If the court has directed that a person who won his case should be reinstated, the university will be in contempt of court not to have reinstated him because he won for want of evidence, perhaps,” she said.