Justice James Omotosho also ordered one of the lawyers of Ndifon, Sunny Anyanwu, to be remanded in the correctional centre pending the hearing of their bail application.

Justice Omotosho gave the order after Ndifon was re-arraigned alongside Anyanwu on an amended four-count charge bordering on alleged sexual harassment and an attempt to perverse the cause of justice.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that while the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) is the complainant, Ndifon and Anyanwu are the 1st and 2nd defendants in the amended charge marked: FHC/ABJ/CR/511/2023.

In count one, Ndifon was alleged to have, between May and September 2023, while being in the employment of UNICAL as Dean of the Faculty of Law, caused one Miss TKJ (not real name), a diploma student of the university, to send pornographic, indecent, and obscene photographs of herself to him through his mobile telephone number, 08037066222, via WhatsApp charts.

The offence was said to be contrary to and punishable under Section 24 of the Cybercrime (Prohibition & Prevention) Act 2015.

In count three, the lawyer was alleged to have, sometime in November 2023 or thereabout, in Abuja during the pendency of the charge filed against Ndifon and on the prompting of the professor, called one of the prosecution witnesses on her mobile telephone.

Anyanwu was alleged to have threatened her not to honour the invitation of the ICPC in respect of the criminal investigation against Ndifon, whose conduct he knew was intended to perverse the cause of justice.

The offence was said to be punishable under Section 182 of the Penal Code, Cap. 532, Laws of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, 2006.

NAN reports that Justice Omotosho had, on Jan. 10, ordered the release of Ndifon on temporary bail to enable him to go for glaucoma surgery.

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The decision followed the conclusion of an investigation by the anti-graft commission.

In the charge sheet with number: FHC/ABJ/CR/511/2023, ICPC is arraigning the lecturer on a four-count charge bordering on sexual harassment, official corruption and abuse of office contrary to Sections 8, 18 and 19 of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000.

The spokesperson for the commission, Azuka Ogugua, disclosed this in a statement on Monday.

One of the counts read, “That you, Prof Cyril Ndifon, between June and September 2023 at Calabar, within the jurisdiction of this court, and while being a public officer charged with responsibility for the certification of students as fit in learning and character as a prerequisite for the award of Bachelor’s degree in law and admission into the Nigeria Law School, used your office and position as the Dean, Faculty of Law, University of Calabar to gratify yourself by soliciting for nude photographs and videos from one Ms. ABC (not real name), a Year 2 diploma student of the University of Calabar, through WhatsApp chats on your telephone number 0803***** and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under S. 19 of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000.”

Ndifon will be arraigned on a date to be given by the court.

The  ICPC, in collaboration with the Department of State Services on October 4, 2023, arrested Ndifon in Calabar, Cross River State, after he shunned several invitations extended to him.

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Ndifon’s arrest followed after his alleged refusal to surrender himself to the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) for questioning “despite several invitations”.

The professor has been in the news since August after he was suspended and replaced over sexual harassment allegations.

This was after some female students of the institution alleged that he sexually harassed them and demanded the former dean’s sack during a protest.

Last week, a panel investigating the allegations against Ndifon established a case of sexual harassment and abuse of office against him.

The probe involved nine student victims who alleged unsolicited sexual advances from the suspended dean.

In a statement on Thursday, the DSS said the professor had previously refused to honour “several invitations” of the ICPC.

The statement said following a court order, Ndifon was arrested in Calabar on Wednesday.

“The ICPC has sought the collaboration of the Department of State Services (DSS) on the University of Calabar (UNICAL) Sex Scandal matter involving Professor Cyril Ndifon, the erstwhile dean of faculty of law of the institution,” the statement reads.

“The Commission had disclosed the refusal of NDIFON to honour its several invitations thus his eventual arrest in Calabar, Cross River State by its operatives on 4th October, 2023 based on a court order.

“However, the service, following the commission’s request and in the spirit of interagency cooperation, supported it for a successful operation. This is to guide public understanding of the latest developments on the matter.”

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Her action followed an open letter from a Woman’s Rights Movement of over 500 activists, practitioners, professionals, and NGOs known as Womanifesto.

They condemned her statements on the matter and demanded a public apology and retraction, else they “will spare no efforts in taking further action that may affect your (Minister’s) position”.

Responding to this letter, the Minister in a press statement on Sunday said “I wish to express my sincere apologies to those who were offended by my comments and actions regarding the sexual harassment scandal at the University of Calabar. This is extremely regrettable as my intentions were sincere and aligned with my consistent advocacy for the welfare of Nigerian women and the pursuit of justice.

“I stand for all Nigerian women and I stand for justice; and it is my hope that we can work together to actualise the dream of a country where women’s rights are respected and protected, and where our daughters feel safe in institutions of learning.”

One of the grouses of the women groups was over the minister’s statement that since a female student admitted in a leaked phone conversation with the Minister that she was not raped, it means she was not sexually harassed.

This for them meant that only rape (penetrative sexual intercourse) is the only form of sexual harassment recognised by the Minister.

Whereas the United Nations’ definition of sexual harassment is ‘sexual advances, requests for sexual favours and verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature, whether implicitly or explicitly’.

Female students of the law faculty held a peaceful rally against the varsity’s Dean, Faculty of Law, Cyril Ndifon, whom they accused of harassing them, an allegation he denied when he told this newspaper that the protest was sponsored by lecturers in the faculty who did not like his style of leadership, although the varsity suspended him.

The Vice Chancellor of the University of Calabar, Florence Obi, said that the university management would investigate the allegations but that the students would be required to provide evidence to back up their complaints.

Reacting to this, the Minister in a video seen on Thursday, threatened to prosecute parties who lie during the ongoing investigation of the alleged sexual assault at the University of Calabar.

Although the investigation panel is conducted by the University, the Minister through her statements on the matter has shown interest.

As indicated on its website, the mandate of the Ministry is to “advise the government on Gender and Children issues”.

On the other hand, the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) in line with the Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) Act, 2015 is responsible for investigations of this nature.

“The VAPP department shall be responsible for the investigation of all cases of violence against persons and related offences (Rape, Infliction of injury, intimidation, forceful ejection from home, spousal battery, emotional, verbal and psychological abuse, Abandonment of spouse and dependants, Incest, Indecent Exposure, stalking, offensive Conduct, harmful traditional practices, other forms of sexual and gender-based violence)”, as indicated on its website.

But it is within the jurisdiction of NAPTIP as stated on its website, in accordance with the VAPP Act to “conduct rescue, arrest, and detention through the NRRS in collaboration with the investigation and operations departments”.

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This follows strong allegations that the former dean of the Faculty of Law at the university, Prof Cyril Ndifon, suspended last week over accusations of sex scandals, had allegedly compromised the lists with favouritism for female students he reportedly slept with.

The Vice Chancellor of the University, Prof Florence Obi, mentioned this when she addressed the press over the several media reports last week about allegations that Ndifon sexually assaulted female students and did not usually follow due process, passing qualified students except those that yielded to his indecent overtures.

Female law undergraduates had publicly protested a few days ago with placards demanding that Prof Ndifon be removed over allegations of incessant sexual assaults.

In the aftermath of the scandal, the Vice Chancellor disclosed that the Faculty of Law needed to be overhauled as a result of the overwhelming allegations against the dean for his alleged highhandedness, sexual assaults, domineering attitudes, and the sidelining of other key academic staff of the faculty.

“Management resolved with the staff on the need for some basic changes to be effected in the faculty to avoid the continuous overbearing influence and power of any Dean of the Faculty of Law over the students,” she stated.

The VC also listed other measures to be taken, including the setting up of a committee to take charge of students’ mobilisation to Law School; a review and possible recall of the students’ list sent to Law School; the removal from office of the two examination officers; and the setting up of a Result Vetting Committee.

Other measures to be taken include setting up a Students’ Project Committee to assign project supervisors to the undergraduates; setting up an Admission Committee to review Direct Entry admissions; setting up a committee to update the existing Standard Operations Procedure (SOP) of the university to take care of the peculiarities of the Faculty of Law for Senate approval; and the appointment of a new sub-dean.

Also being considered are the appointment of a new interim chairman of the Faculty’s Post-Graduate School Board and the setting up of a committee to review and assign courses for the semester in compliance with the university procedure on Quality Assurance.”

The university authorities also directed the dean and the sub-dean to submit all result scripts, question papers, marking guides, and examination attendance lists for the past two sessions to the Director of Quality Assurance.

Prof Obi further ordered that a panel look into alleged extortions said to have been perpetrated by Ndifon and, if found culpable, should be made to refund all illegal monies collected from the students under various sub-heads.

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According to a statement on Saturday by Akorede Lawal, NBA’s publicity secretary, the resolution to investigate the alleged misconduct was reached at a meeting by the national executive committee (NEC) of the association.

On August 14, some female students, led by Benedict Otu, the president of the Law Students Association of Nigeria (LAWSAN), staged a protest, demanding the sack of Ndifon over alleged sexual harassment.

But in a chat with CrossRiverWatch, the embattled dean debunked the allegations, describing them as “baseless”.

In less than 24 hours after his interview, the UNICAL management suspended the embattled lecturer in a letter signed by Gabriel Egbe, the university’s registrar, on Thursday.

“The NBA NEC subsequently empanelled an ad-hoc committee comprising the 1st Vice President of the NBA, Mrs Linda Rose Bala, the Assistant General Secretary of the NBA, Mr Daniel Kip, Chairperson of NBA Women’s Forum and the Chairman of the NBA Calabar Branch, to investigate the allegations against the University Don,” the statement reads.

Also, the NBA NEC asked Flora Azinge, a tribunal judge in Kano, to name the lawyer, a senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN), who allegedly attempted to bribe her with N10 billion.

Speaking in an open court before the commencement of the session on Tuesday in Kano, Azinge said the SAN  in question has a pending case before the tribunal.

The statement added that the NBA has filed petitions against Hudu Yunusa-Ari, the suspended resident electoral commissioner in Adamawa state and Ifunanya Excel Grant, a young lawyer of the Aba branch, in Abia state.

While the petition against Yunusa-Ari concerns his role in illegally declaring the result of the supplementary 2023 gubernatorial election in the state while votes were still being counted, Grant, popularly known as “the baddest lawyer” on social media is being probed for her “notoriety of posting pictures and videos of herself unclad and smoking marijuana”.

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The suspension came days after some law students of the institution protested alleged s3xual harassment against the dean.

He was suspended in 2015 for the same issue but was said to have cleared himself after a legal tussle.

A letter by the University Registrar, Gabriel Egbe, said the current suspension takes effect from August 17, 2023.

According to the letter, the suspension came on the heels of the Dean’s response to a query by the University Management which the Vice Chancellor was dissatisfied with.

The letter reads this; ” Please refer to our letter Ref UC/REG/DISC.45A dated August 14, 2023 on your alleged violation of the provisions of the extant laws and policies of the University and your response to the said letter which was dated 16th August, 2023.

” The Vice-Chancellor has gone through your written representations and is not satisfied with your explanations. She has therefore directed that you should be relieved of your position as Dean, Faculty of Law and placed on suspension while the matter is referred to a panel that will be set-up to investigate these allegations.

” The relief of position as Dean, Faculty of Law and suspension from official duties takes effect from August 17, 2023. You are to hand over all University property in your possession including all official responsibilities presently handled by you to the Sub-Dean of the Faculty before vacating office.

” You are to stay away from the University premises except while responding to an invitation from the panel investigating these allegations”

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Professor Ndifon, who is the first professor of Law from Cross River State, was briefly arrested and detained by the police and later released on Wednesday before he was suspended Thursday evening.

The professor was accused by mother of the victim, Irene Akpan, in a letter sent to the university, alleging that the incident happened between 3 and 5pm on August 29 at the dean’s private office on the top floor of the faculty building.

According to the lady, Professor Ndifon forcibly had sex with her daughter after a fierce struggle. The school authorities confirmed receipt of complaints from the victim, while the police also affirmed it but was quick to add that the matter was undergoing thorough investigation.

Narrating her daughter’s ordeal, Mrs Akpan explained that the dean had set a one-hour test for the students on that Saturday, assigning two lecturers to carry out the supervision.

She alleged that 20 minutes to the end of allotted time, Ndifon entered the hall and ordered the students to stop writing.

She said while the students were preparing to submit their answer sheets, Ndifon approached her daughter, tore her answer sheet and left the shreds on the seat.

“He walked straight to my daughter’s desk, collected the script and tore it. He left the torn script on her seat, so the girl collected the pieces and put them in her bag. According to her, you will still have to pass through the faculty before leaving the building.

“She said as they were leaving, the dean accosted her again and asked if she still had the shredded script, she said yes. He instructed her to follow him to the general dean’s office to recopy the answers on another plain sheet, which she did.”

“The unsuspecting girl followed him to the general office where two people were, including the dean’s secretary. The office of the dean is on the first floor of the building, according to my daughter.

“She said while writing in that office, the dean who had earlier gone out, came in again and instructed her to follow him to his private office on the second floor so that she could comfortably use the table.”

The victim’s mother said five minutes after getting to his private office, the dean locked the door, concealed the key and started making advances, adding that they struggled but Ndifon subdued her and had sex with the girl.

She said her daughter was later taken to Airport Police Station, along IBB Way in Calabar, where she gave statement and also had medical examinations at the police clinic.

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