Ndifon is being prosecuted by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission.
By Onozure Dania, Punch Newspaper
Right activists have commended Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court in Abuja for ordering the remand in Kuje prison of the suspended Dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Calabar, Prof. Cyril Ndifon, who is facing alleged sexual harassment.
Ndifon is being prosecuted by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission.
Justice Omotosho ordered Ndifon’s remand on Monday after he was arraigned by the ICPC.
Ndifon, a public official responsible for certifying students as fit in learning and character as a prerequisite for the award of a Bachelor’s degree in Law and admission into the Nigerian Law School, is facing four counts filed against him by the anti-graft agency.
However, the activists while reacting to the remand order hailed it as a welcome development.
A Lagos-based lawyer and rights activist, Inibehe Effiong, said the don’s remand was a positive development, adding that it was a step towards accountability.
“I know of the fact that the University of Calabar, Faculty of Law in particular, has over time been in enmeshed sexual scandals.
“Students of that faculty and even the university have over the years complained, especially the female students, that they have been sexually harassed, and seeing somebody of this stature put to trial by the ICPC is commendable.
“I think it is a message to Nigerian lecturers in our tertiary institutions that they must now reconsider their attitude towards students, and the way they treat them.
“Many students in Nigeria do not have a voice. Many of them have been raped on campus. I personally have had cause to counsel and advise female students who have complained either of one form of sexual molestation or the other.
“But in many cases, they are not able to seek justice because of fear of victimization. I am hoping that Ndifon’s case, I know he is presuming innocent, but I am hoping that the efforts to hold him accountable for the allegations against him will go a long way to sanitize our tertiary institutions.
Also reacting to the development, a lawyer, Dr. Uju Agomoh, who is the Executive Director of Prisoners’ Rehabilitation and Welfare Action, said persons currently undergoing trial could be remanded in a correctional center by a court of competent jurisdiction.
Agomoh stated that correctional centers are not only for those who have been sentenced.
According to her, Section 10 of the Nigerian Correctional Service Act 2019 provides the functions of custody service. Subsection (a) – (c) states the following as part of the functions of the custodial service: (a) taking custody of all persons legally interned.
She added that the question therefore is whether Ndifon was legally interned. If yes, she said then there was nothing wrong with him being remanded at the correctional centre.
Agomoh said, “Sexual harassment offenses often fall under state laws in Nigeria. However, if the offense is considered a federal crime or if it involves certain circumstances, it might be tried at the Federal High Court in Abuja.
“The jurisdiction might depend on various legal aspects and the specific details of the case. I do not have all the facts of the case and therefore unable to say if it is the right court that is trying the case or not.
“The implication of this provision is that having Prof Cyril Ndifon remanded in Kuje Correctional Centre, there is a requirement for the correctional service to ‘provide safe, secure and humane custody’ to him (the same for any other person remanded in custody and the same for any other correctional center in the country).”
In her reaction, the Executive Director, Project Alert, Mrs. Josephine Effah-Chukwuma, said Ndifon’s remand was a welcome development and would aid further investigation.
She said there had been a series of allegations against him as this was not the first time.
“It happened sometime in 2015/2016 and for one reason or the other, the matter was never charged to court. Now, again, the same allegations came up against him by his students. Why him all the time?” she queried.
The ICPC alleged that on October 30, 2023, Ndifon allegedly used his office to solicit nude photographs and videos from female students.
It also said that the defendant corruptly changed a student’s project supervisor for favorable grades, and requested pictures of a prospective student as an inducement for admission.
The ICPC’s counsel, Ebenezer Shogunle, had filed the charge marked: FHC/ABJ/CR/511/23 on October 30, 2023, against Ndifon.
The defendant was alleged to have, between June and September 2023, used his office and position to gratify himself by soliciting nude photographs and videos from a year two diploma female student of the university through Whatsapp chats on his telephone number: 08037066222.
He was also said to have corruptly requested nude photographs and videos from a 400-level female student of the Faculty of Law with the plan of changing her project supervisor to himself in order to guarantee favorable grades for her.
Ndifon was alleged to have corruptly requested to see the photographs of a 16-year-old prospective post-UTME female student, as an inducement to consider her for admission into the Faculty of Law.
The ICPC also accused him of causing a female student to send pornographic, indecent, and obscene photographs of herself to him through WhatsApp chats on his telephone number: 08037066222 between May and September 2023.
“It was many hours later I remembered somebody called me and put a call through.
“At that point, there was a network issue and I was saying hello, hello and the call was cut off.
“And that name they (ICPC) called was not in the proof of evidence. They have four witnesses,” he said.
When the judge asked him about his interest in the matter, he said Ndifon was his lecturer and that he came as counsel to defend him or support the defense.
Justice Omotosho then asked Akponimisingha the name of the person who was alleged to have been called.
“The name is Tochi Kanu Jane,” he said.
The judge however directed Anyanwu to file his affidavit of facts for the court to decide on the issue.
But Justice Omotosho wondered why Ndifon had not gone for the surgery since October 27, 2023, when the magistrate court granted him bail.
Akponimisingha told the court that the medical report was served on them late and they were still verifying its genuineness.
Consequently, Justice Omotosho ordered Ndifon to be remanded in Kuje Correctional Centre and adjourned the matter until January 10 for a hearing of the bail application and also to enable Anyanwu to file the affidavit of facts.
