UNICAL Panel Finds Suspended Dean Guilty of Sexual Favour and Gross Misconduct.
The probe panel set up by the University of Calabar to investigate allegations of sexual harassment of female students by the suspended Dean of the school’s Faculty of Law, Prof. Cyril Ndifon, has found the senior lecturer guilty of gross misconduct.
In a report obtained by SaharaReporters on Sunday, the panel established that Prof. Ndifon was using his official position to intimidate and solicit sexual favors from female students in the Faculty of Law. The report also revealed that he had been involved in students’ exploitation, particularly by delaying the graduation of some female students by withholding their results and making threats.
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The allegations against Prof. Ndifon came to light when female students of the Faculty of Law at UNICAL staged a protest, demanding his immediate removal for alleged sexual harassment. The university management subsequently suspended him and formed an administrative panel to investigate the matter.
The panel, chaired by Prof. Dorothy Oluwagbemi-Jacob, investigated cases of sexual harassment and molestation, abuse of office, extortion, and high-handedness leveled against Prof. Ndifon. It also looked into the alleged violations of university rules and regulations and the claim that most of Prof. Ndifon’s supervisees and their course representatives were female students.
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The panel relied on oral and written submissions, as well as physical and virtual participation from victims, fellow lecturers, and students’ representatives. It was found that the suspended Dean compelled law students to pay for a Faculty Journal that was nonexistent for three consecutive academic sessions.
As a result of its findings, the panel recommended that Prof. Ndifon face the statutory Disciplinary Committee of the University of Calabar for appropriate sanctions applicable to acts of both Major and Gross misconduct. It also advised that he should refund over three million naira (N3m) realized from the payments made by law students for the Law Journal that he never published or provided.
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Additionally, the panel recommended that Comfort Jumbo be given another supplementary examination since the suspended Dean collected her scripts for Law of Evidence, Law of Equity, and Land Law. It also suggested that the acting Dean should arrange an internal defense for Barrister Anne Eruegi Agi to defend her Ph.D. and encourage her to apply for promotion in the next promotion exercise.
Furthermore, the panel recommended that the university should establish rules to prevent lecturers from meeting students at unofficial hours, promoting the culture of not locking their offices during student consultations. It also called for disciplinary action against the former accountant of the Faculty of Law, Mrs. Aniekan Udeme Ekwere, and cautioned the former Faculty Officer, Mr. Robert Omang.
In conclusion, the panel emphasized the need to clean up the Faculty of Law, addressing the discord and borderization that have negatively impacted academic standards. It called for the reorientation of younger academics in the faculty to uphold the noble ideals and values of the university system.
The University of Calabar now faces the task of implementing these recommendations to restore confidence among stakeholders and uphold academic excellence in the Faculty of Law.
