By Latiifah Amusan
Female law students from the University of Calabar staged a protest on campus on Monday afternoon, accusing Prof Cyril Ndifon, Dean of the Faculty of Law, of repeated sexual harassment.
The students organized themselves into groups and chanted slogans such as ‘Ndifon, go! go!’ while displaying placards bearing statements like “Ndifon Must Go!”, “We’re tired of sucking di*ks for marks”, “Law Girls Are Not Bonanza”, and “Prof Ndifon Must Stop Grabbing our Bum Bum”.
Leading the demonstration was Comrade Benedict Otu, President of the Law Students Association of Nigeria (LAWSAN), Unical branch.
The protesters alleged that the sexual harassment incidents had been ongoing and demanded that action be taken against Prof Ndifon.
Responding to the accusations, Prof Ndifon refuted the allegations of both high-handedness and sexual harassment.
He argued that the protest was orchestrated by individuals within the faculty who aimed to tarnish his reputation.
He said,
“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 going to hold 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 to iron out important issues troubling us in the faculty. While the meeting was ongoing, we were told that some students were outside with placards, protesting against me, demanding that I should be removed,”
“This won’t work. Colleagues of mine are bent on tarnishing my reputation just to destroy me. The question is where are the victims of sexual harassment?” He queried
He explained that the meeting was supposed to address faculty issues and was disrupted when he was informed that students were protesting against him.
Amidst the turmoil, Vice Chancellor Prof Florence Obi assured the protesting students that the university administration would take the allegations seriously and address the issues raised by the demonstrators.
