Law School students, University of CalabarIn the south-south of Nigeria, they held a peaceful demonstration on Monday inside the university campus to protest against the dean of the faculty, Cyril Ndifon, whom they accused of sexual harassment.
TO video clip of the protest posted on Twitter showed a handful of students singing protest songs in front of an administration building inside the university.
“Professor Andifon, let the big-breasted girls breathe. Stop suffocating us,” read a sign shown in the video.
Some male students participated in the protest.
University of Calabar Vice Chancellor Florence Obi told Newslodge on Monday night that she had addressed the protesting students and assured them that their complaints would be investigated.
Newcomer: Nigerian Law Students Association LAWSAN, UNICAL Branch protests against Prof. Cyril Ndifon, Dean of the Faculty of Law. They accuse him of corruption and sexual assault.
Credit: Agba Jalingo (Reporter)
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— Regency Reporters (@Regency_NG) August 14, 2023
Ms Obi, a professor, promised that the university administration would investigate the allegations against Mr Ndifon, but that students would be required to provide evidence to support their claims.
“When you talk about sexual harassment, you need more than an accusation,” he said.
The vice chancellor said that the students filed an official complaint with her on Thursday and that some of the student representatives met with her before the protest rally.
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After Monday’s protest, Ms Obi met for about five hours with the law administration faculty to discuss the development, she said.
“A committee has already been established to handle some other issues raised by the students,” he said.
Mr. Andifon was previously suspended by the school authority in 2015 after he was accused of raping a 20-year-old law student in his office, a charge the professor challenged in court.
His suspension was lifted about a year later, under unclear circumstances: Our reporters could find no evidence that the court exonerated the professor.
the teacher reacts
Ndifon told Newslodge that the protest against him was led by the president of the university’s Law Students’ Association, Ben Otu, who said it was “just a play on words” in some power play at the faculty. of law.
“Some professors are the real people behind it,” he said.
Ndifon said that only 100 high school students participated in the protest and that the students were attracted under the pretense that they were going to give a lecture.
“He (LAWSAN president) took down the banners and gave them to some of the students to carry. Some of the students ran away.
Newcomer: Nigerian Law Students Association LAWSAN, UNICAL Branch protests against Prof. Cyril Ndifon, Dean of the Faculty of Law. They accuse him of corruption and sexual assault.
Credit: Agba Jalingo (Reporter)
Lagos Island New Nigeria #14AugustBlack Day 62% of Nigerians pic.twitter.com/qNOSwkO0ak
— Regency Reporters (@Regency_NG) August 14, 2023
“How come only freshmen protested, freshmen I’ve never taught? Where are the second, third, fourth, and fifth year students?”
“Ask the teachers who are behind these things. I won an election. I should ask you if this man is so mean and unpopular, how come he won an election for dean with a landslide victory for the first and second terms? said the teacher.
“What have I done wrong? They say I run the college like an emperor. That’s what I’ve done wrong.”
Ndifon denied the accusation of sexual harassment, saying he barely knows the first-year students at the college as he doesn’t manage any of their courses.
Newslodge reminded Mr. Ndifon of a previous accusation of sexual harassment against him.
“At the end of the day, after all the noise, it was my fault that I tore up a student’s (exam) script and gave her a chance to rewrite,” the teacher replied.
Newslodge could not immediately reach the LAWSAN president for comment as his phone was turned off.
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