UNICAL dean Prof. Cyril Ndifon accused of harassing female law students, breaks silence
Prof. Cyril Ndifon, Dean of the Faculty of Law, University of Calabar, Cross River State has claimed that the allegation of s3xual harassment was plotted against him because he won the faculty election.
Prof. Ndifon who said this while speaking to Cross Rivers Watch, described the allegation of high-handedness, and s3xual harassment levelled against him by some of his students as a plot by his fellow lecturers who wanted his fall as the law faculty dean.
We reported that female students of the faculty of law at UNICAL demanded the immediate removal of Ndifon as dean of the law faculty for allegedly s3xually harassing them.
This is seen in a viral video on X, formerly known as Twitter which shows the moment the predominantly female students, clad in their traditional white and black attire, protested in the school.
Reacting to this, Prof. Cyril described the students’ allegations as fabricated lies targeted at tarnishing his image.
He was quoted by Cross River Watch as saying, “Since I defeated some persons in an election that was keenly contested, to emerge as Dean of the faculty, it hasn’t been easy. I had skipped several booby traps.
“These allegations are baselessly masterminded by my detractor, who had vowed to ensure that my image is dragged into the mud just because I won the faculty elections twice.
“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 holding 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 unseated.
“From what am told, LAWSAN President, Benedict Otu, cajoled some students that they were to go for a meeting with the Vice Chancellor at her office, only to dish out placards bearing false representations about the Dean, and asked his colleagues to chant slogans that berated my personality.
“This won’t work. Colleagues of mine who are bent on tarnishing my reputation just to destroy me. The question is where are the victims of sexual harassment?
“Can someone harass girls without the ladies coming out to raise the alarm that they were sexually harassed?
“For Christ’s sake, I don’t teach Year 2 B or Year 1 students, so I don’t know why they have chosen to drag my name into the mud. This was why I said earlier that the allegations were lies, cooked from the pit of hell, just to destroy a reputation that I had spent decades building.”
A civil society organisation, under the aegis of Sacredhearts Gender Protective Initiative in December 2022 questioned the reinstatement and promotion of Ndifon who was once accused of raping a female student in his office.
According to Cross River Watch, the institution’s Vice Chancellor, Prof. Florence Obi, who addressed the protesting students, asked for calm and assured them of the university’s desire to handle the matter.