Nigeria’s University Of Calabar Female Law Students Demand Immediate Removal Of Faculty Dean, Prof. Ndifon, Over Alleged Sexual Harassment

Female students of the faculty of law at the University of Calabar, Cross River State have demanded the immediate removal of the Dean of the faculty, Prof. Cyril Ndifon for allegedly sexually harassing them.

This is seen in a viral video on X, formerly known as Twitter which shows the moment the predominantly female students, clad in their traditional white and black attire, protested in the school. 

The angry students are seen in the video displaying placards with inscriptions like, “We are tired of sucking big ****”, “Professor Ndifon, let the girls with big breasts breathe. Stop suffocating us,” and “Enough of law school list manipulation.”

“**** FOR GRADE. Unical female Law students have called out their Dean, Prof Cyril Ndifon. Right now they are being threatened and shushed by the establishment,” a Twitter user, @ThatNaijaGuy001 captioned the video.

Meanwhile, a civil society organization, under the aegis Sacredhearts Gender Protective Initiative in December 2022 questioned the reinstatement and promotion of the dean who was once accused of raping a female student in his office.

This was stated in a letter addressed to the Vice Chancellor of the school, Prof. Florence Obi, and made available to BarristerNG. 

The letter, headlined RE: RAPE CASE OF PROF. CYRIL NDIFON, was signed by the organization’s Executive Director, Rosemary Nwafor, PhD, and stated that “Enough is Enough as same will not be business as usual.”

It was gathered that agitations from various quarters, including the parents of the victim, sought a thorough, professional and impartial investigation into the case of rape against Prof. Ndifon.

Part of the letter read, “On behalf of the above-named Civil Society Organization, I write to bring to your attention a hidden injustice, which your academic institution has refused to take action on. Our decision to take up this issue is in line with the globally-proclaimed 16 days of activism, to rise for the protection of women and girls against Gender-Based Violence (GBV).

“Madam Vice Chancellor, you will recall that on August 29, 2015, one Prof. Cyril Osim Ndifon, (who is currently the Dean of your Law Faculty) was accused of raping, in his office, a female law student of your University. After a preliminary investigation by the University Management, the said Ndifon was indicted and suspended as staff of the university. An attempt by Ndifon to set aside his suspension by the university was dismissed by a well-delivered judgment by the National Industrial Court on the 21st of September 2016 (vide suit NICN/CAI01/2016).

“Apart from the foregoing, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) took over the investigation of the criminal part of the sexual harassment case against Ndifon.”

The group further stated: “An attempt by Ndifon to stop the ICPC from investigating and prosecuting him for abuse of office before the Federal High Court, Calabar was dismissed in court. On the 2nd of March, 2017, Justice I.E. Ekwo of the Federal High Court Calabar, held that the application brought by Ndifon had no merit and that the offence of sexual gratification was contrary to sections 8,9 and 19 of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000′. The Court of Appeal is yet to deliver its judgment on the above case.”

The group queried the moral standard of the university in reinstating Ndifon, especially while still under investigation.