It is no longer news that sexual harassment perpetrated by lecturers is rife in Nigerian tertiary institutions.
Although some schools suspend or dismiss some of the implicated lecturers, others retain the accused on the grounds that they are innocent until proven guilty.
On Thursday, Prof Cyril Ndifon, the dean of the faculty of law at the University of Calabar (UNICAL) joined the growing list of lecturers dismissed over sexual harassment allegations.
The management of UNICAL suspended him after female law students at the university staged a protest against him.
THE WHISPERER found that several other lecturers across various Nigerian tertiary institutions have been suspended in 2023 for this same reason.
Below are other higher institutions which managements suspended lecturers found guilty of sexual offences between January and August 2023.
AMBROSE ALLI UNIVERSITY
In May, the management of the Ambrose Alli University (AAU) in Edo State dismissed a lecturer whose name was not disclosed for sexual harassment.
He was dismissed on the recommendations of the institution’s staff disciplinary committee, which found him guilty of the offence.
According to Prof. Asomwan Adagbonyin, AAU’s vice chancellor, the dismissed lecturer had claimed to only make advances, yet he went to the girl’s church to plead for forgiveness.
KOGI POLY
Abutu Thompson Okolo, a senior lecturer at the department of language and communication, was dismissed from Kogi State Polytechnic, Lokoja, in March.
He was dismissed on the account of sexual harassment and victimisation of a female student in the department of computer science.
UNIABUJA
In July, a news report revealed that two lecturers at the University of Abuja (UNIABUJA) had been dismissed over allegations bordering on sexual misconduct.
Meanwhile, earlier this year, FIJ reported that the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission arraigned Dr. Balogun Olaniran, a lecturer at Tai Solarin University of Education (TASUED), Ogun State.
The lecturer was reported to have demanded sexual gratification from a female student to alter her results in 2021. The school management suspended Olaniran in 2022. (FIJ)
