The Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday convicted the suspended Dean of the Faculty of Law, University of Calabar (UNICAL), Prof Cyril Ndifon, and sentenced him to five years’ imprisonment for sexually harassing his female students.
Delivering judgment, Justice James Omotosho found Prof Ndifon guilty on two of the four counts brought against him by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC). The court, however, discharged and acquitted his co-defendant, Mr Sunny Anyanwu, a legal practitioner accused of attempting to pervert the course of justice. Justice Omotosho held that the prosecution failed to establish any wrongdoing on his part.
According to the court, Prof Ndifon was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment on one count and five years on another, with both terms to run concurrently.
The ICPC had alleged that while serving as Dean of the Faculty of Law, Prof Ndifon sexually harassed female students by demanding explicit photographs from them through WhatsApp. One of the students, identified in court records by the pseudonym TJK, testified that he requested “pornographic, indecent, and obscene photographs” from her. She was among four prosecution witnesses who testified during the trial.
The charges against the defendants bordered on sexual harassment, cybercrime, and obstruction of justice.
Following the close of the prosecution’s case on February 14, 2024, Prof Ndifon filed a no-case submission, which the court dismissed on March 6, 2024, ordering him to enter his defence. He subsequently testified in his own defence and called a second witness, CSP Babagana Mingali, a forensic analyst from the Office of the National Security Adviser.
Prof Ndifon denied all allegations, insisting the prosecution failed to produce credible or sufficient evidence linking him to the offences. He argued that the testimonies of the witnesses, including that of the alleged victim, were unreliable and incapable of sustaining a conviction.
Justice Omotosho, however, disagreed, ruling that the evidence presented was adequate to establish guilt beyond reasonable doubt on two counts, leading to the former dean’s conviction.
Credit: The Investigator