Chuks Oyema-Aziken
The Dean of the Faculty of Law, University of Calabar (UNICAL), Prof. Cyril Ndifon, has accused some of his colleagues of instigating the protest by some students of the faculty who raised allegations of high handedness and sexual harassment against him.
The students, majority of whom were female and dressed in the signature white shirts on black skirts, carried placards with inscription “We are tired of sucking dicks”, “Prof Ndifon, let the girls with big breasts breathe, stop suffocating us!
They were seen in a video shared on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Monday, August 14, 2023, gathering in front of a storey building presumed to be the law faculty, chanting “go”.
The students also accused the Dean of sale of law journal, lecturers not showing up in class to lecture students and sexual harassment allegations
Defending himself in a telephone conversation with a local portal, CrossRiverWatch, Prof. Ndifon accused some persons in the faculty, who had sworn to do everything possible in order to pull him down.
He said: “Since I defeated some persons in an election that was keenly contested, to emerge as Dean of the faculty, it hasn’t been easy. I had skipped several booby traps.
“These allegations are baselessly masterminded by my detractor, who had vowed to ensure that my image is dragged to the mud just because I won the faculty elections twice.
“If you look at the placards you will discover that the placards have one person’s handwriting. Again how come the protesters know that we were holding a meeting with the Vice Chancellor if it is not the handiwork of an insider.
“We were supposed to hold a meeting with the Vice Chancellor to enable us iron out important issues troubling us in the faculty, while the meeting was on-going, we were told that some students were outside with placards, protesting against me, demanding that I should be unseated.
“This won’t work. Colleagues of mine who are bent on tarnishing my reputation just to destroy me. The question is where are the victims of sexual harassment.
“Can someone harass girls without the ladies coming out to raise the alarm that they were sexually harassed?
“For Christ sake, I don’t teach Year 2 B or Year one students, so I don’t know why they have chosen to drag my name to the mud. This was why I said earlier that the allegations were lies, cooked from the pit of hell, just to destroy a reputation that I had spent decades building.
Meanwhile, UNICAL Vice Chancellor, Prof. Florence Obi, has called for calm and assured students of the university authority’s willingness to get the situation addressed.
Support has however come the way of the embattled Dean as some students of the faculty denounced the allegations against him.
One of the students, Miss Agatha Ayeni, expressed sadness over the protest against the dean, stressing that the LAWSAN President, Comrade Otu, took a group of gullible students out to protest against the wish of the leadership of the faculty because he didn’t meet up with two third major requirement before a protest is carried out.
Another law student, Sylvester, (surname withheld), who regretted participating in the protest, stated that he and other colleagues were cajoled to go for a meeting with the Vice Chancellor at her office, only to see placards bearing false representations about the Dean.
He said: “Also, we have heard of law journal but did not hear anything like sexual harassment. I think this is a manipulation of gullible students to achieve self-serving interest.”
Another law student, Emmanuel Williams, who condemned the protest, stated that allegations of sexual harassment was a blackmail to pull down the Dean.
He said, “The question is if Ndifon has been accused of sexual harassment who is the the victim(s)?
“We are all law students and taught how to seek redress. Can these so-called victims raise an alarm, rather than keeping mute?”
Prof. Ndifon was in 2015 accused of raping a young lady. He was suspended and later cleared of the allegations and reinstated to his position as Dean in 2017.
