The National Association of Nigerians Students (NANS) has received about 2,000 petitions from students on sexual harassment by lecturers, this is according to the NANS president.
NANS President, Danielson Akpan, revealed this earlier today while making a presentation in Abuja at the public hearing on Sexual Harassment of Students in Tertiary Institutions (Prohibition) Bill, organised by the Senate.
The bill for Act for prevention, prohibition and redressal of sexual harassment of students in tertiary institutions had scaled second reading in Senate hence the public hearing.
The bill is being sponsored by the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege (APC, Delta Central) and 105 other senators.
The bill was initially passed by the 8th Senate but was not given assent before it was later reintroduced in the 9th Senate.
According to Danielson Akpan, it became imperative for NANS to constitute the committee to enable it to take a proper record of sexual harassment cases on campuses so as to proffer solution.
He stated that sexual harassment by educators in tertiary institutions has become “more epidemic than coronavirus” and that if not legally tackled, as proposed in the bill, it would degenerate into gross fall of the educational system. He said;
“As of now, NANS has received over 2,000 petitions from Nigerian students on sexual harassment against university lecturers. We constituted a committee to look into the matter to address the challenges students face from lecturers.
“We don’t think it is necessary to place a penalty on false information as contained in the bill because students do not lie and cannot propagate the falsehood that they are being sexually harassed by lecturers.”
