Female law students of the University of Calabar on Monday protested against unending sexual harassment being faced by the faculty, as well as threats and suppression from the institution’s authorities, News About Nigeria reports.
In this case, a name the culprit is the dean, Prof. Cyril Osim Ndifon of the Department of Jurisprudence and International Law.
The students gathered at the faculty entrance while chanting go! go! go! Their placards read “enough of law school list manipulation”, “Prof. Ndifon must go for sanity”, “law school girls are not bonanzas, Prof. Ndifon should stop grabbing us.” “The faculty of law is not a brothel.” “We are tired …”, “Prof. Ndifon, let the girls with … breath, stop suffocating us.”
It was gathered that in 2015 Prof. Ndifon was suspended by the school’s Vice Chancellor, Professor Ivara Esu for sexually assaulting a 20-year-old 400-level student in his private office on the 29th of August, 2015.
However, in 2022, he was reinstated and promoted.
His reinstatement was challenged by a Civil Society Organization, under the aegis Sacredhearts Gender Protective Initiative but proved abortive. Only to open the same can of worms 8years after his suspension and about one year after his reinstatement.
X (formerly Twitter) users have lent their voices to the issue. @DOsegbu spoke of his suspension and how he became worse since reinstatement. In his words “This man was suspended in 2015 on account of rape by the then School Administration/Senate but after he returned he became worse. All efforts to report him often gets repressed as he has a clique of lecturers in the same faculty that do same with him as their dean”.
@ChuksAyogu2 said lecturers that do such should be sacked to deter others, giving a test of how 2 of his lecturers in school were sacked in other to bring sanity to the school.
@tinidat tweeted “Sexual exploitation is one of many problems in our educational institutions. I wish every student would be brave enough to fight any form of exploitation from lecturers. But we need a system that will protect the students when they fight these ills. Enough is enough”
@Uzochi_O wrote expressed his shock on founding out that the Prof. was reinstated, saying that, he has been involved in the act “over 20 years”. Adding that is a shame that ‘these kids grew up to still meet this nonsense at that faculty.”
@nemmsbouy wrote “I’m stunned that he is still in the university after over 20 years of these same issues. This is utterly disgraceful.”
