Sexual harassment: Court sentences UNICAL professor to 5 years imprisonment

The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Monday convicted the suspended Dean of the Faculty of Law, University of Calabar (UNICAL), Prof. Cyril Ndifon, and sentenced him to five years imprisonment for sexually harassing his female students.

Delivering the judgment, Justice James Omotosho found Ndifon guilty on two counts out of a four-count charge filed against him by the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC).

The court, however, discharged and acquitted Ndifon’s co-defendant and lawyer, Mr. Sunny Anyanwu, who was accused of attempting to pervert the course of justice, ruling that the prosecution failed to establish any credible evidence against him.

Justice Omotosho sentenced Prof. Ndifon to two years in prison for one count, and five years on the second count, with the court ordering that the sentences run concurrently.

The ICPC had accused Ndifon of soliciting explicit and indecent photographs from female students while serving as UNICAL’s Law Dean.

In particular, the commission highlighted a case where Ndifon allegedly demanded pornographic images from a female diploma student, whose identity was protected under the pseudonym “TJK.” The student was among four witnesses who testified against him in court.

Allegations against Ndifon and Anyanwu included sexual harassment, cybercrime, and attempts to pervert the course of justice.

Following the closure of ICPC’s case on February 14, 2024, Ndifon filed a no-case submission, which the court dismissed on March 6, 2024, ordering him to open his defence.

In his defense, Prof. Ndifon testified as his own witness, while CSP Babagana Mingali, a forensic analyst at the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), also appeared.

Ndifon denied all allegations, claiming that the prosecution failed to present sufficient evidence to justify a conviction.

Despite his defense, the court held that the evidence presented by the ICPC proved beyond reasonable doubt that Ndifon engaged in inappropriate sexual conduct towards his students, marking a significant judgment in the fight against sexual harassment in Nigerian tertiary institutions. (SaharaReporters)