CALABAR, Nigeria — Female law students of the University of Calabar, UNICAL, led a protest against the Dean of the Faculty of Law, Prof. Cyril Ndifon, accusing him of sexual harassment and exploitation.
A protest video went viral on August 14, 2023, where placards bearing statements like, “We are tired of sucking dicks” and “Prof Ndifon, let the girls with big breasts breathe, stop suffocating us!!!” were displayed.
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The President of the Law Students Association of Nigeria, LAWSAN, UNICAL branch, Benedict Otu led the protest.
Prof. Ndifon denied these accusations in an interview with journalists.
He speculated that the protests were orchestrated by faculty members trying to undermine his authority. He alleged that their actions might be in retaliation for him winning faculty elections twice.
Ndifon stated, “If you look at the placards you will discover that they have one person’s handwriting. We were told that some students were outside with placards, protesting against me, demanding that I be unseated.”
He emphasized that he doesn’t teach Year 1 or Year 2 students and challenged the existence of any victims of the alleged harassment.
Despite Ndifon’s denials, other students from the Faculty of Law shared their own grievances about the Dean, including concerns about the sale of law journals and lecturers’ absenteeism.
In response to the protest, the institution’s Vice Chancellor, Prof. Florence Obi, called for calm and assured the students that the university authorities were committed to resolving the matter.
Some students, however, expressed regret about participating in the protest.
A student named Sylvester said he had been misled about the reason for the gathering and was surprised to find himself amidst a protest against the Dean.
He and another student named Emmanuel Williams questioned the validity of the sexual harassment allegations, calling for any victims to come forward.
It should be noted that this isn’t the first time Prof. Ndifon has faced such accusations.
2015 he was accused of rape but was subsequently cleared of the allegations and reinstated as Dean in 2017.
