THE Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday handed the suspended Dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Calabar (UNICAL), Cyril Ndifon, a five-year prison sentence with no option of a fine.
The judge, James Omotosho, ruled that the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) successfully proved counts one and two against the UNICAL professor beyond reasonable doubt.
“The instances of undue advantage are so much. The 1st defendant abused his office. Consequently, the 1st defendant is hereby convicted of count one and count two,” the judge ruled, adding that the court found Ndifon not to be a witness of truth.
The judge noted that he considered Ndifon’s status as a first-time offender when tempering justice with mercy.
He, therefore, sentenced Ndifon to two years’ imprisonment on count one and five years on count two, noting that the sentences were to run concurrently.
The ICIR reported in August 2023 that demale students of UNICAL’s Faculty of Law staged a protest within the school premises carrying placards that read, “Law students are not Bonanza, Prof. Ndifon should stop grabbing us. The Faculty of Law is not a brothel,” “Ndifon must go for our sanity,” among others.
Videos of the protest went viral on social media, generating several reactions, including those from many former students sharing similar experiences.
Ndifon reacted to the allegations, describing them as lies and the handiwork of his enemies following his emergence as the dean of faculty.
However, the convict had been suspended for similar reasons in 2015 after a final-year student accused him of raping her in his office.
The institution suspended Ndifon some days later, over allegations of sexual assault against him by some female students, and set up a seven-member panel to investigate allegations of sexual harassment levelled against him.
The panel, headed by a professor of philosophy, Dorothy Oluwagbemi-Jacob, was expected to carry out thorough investigations into at least six issues ranging from sexual harassment to results manipulation by Ndifon and make appropriate recommendations to the management.
In October 2023, Ndifon was arrested by the State Security Service (SSS) at the request of the ICPC after he failed to honour invitations following allegations of sexual assault levelled against him. Since then, the commission has been on the case.
The High Court judge, in his ruling, discharged and acquitted Sunny Anyanwu, initially a member of Ndifon’s legal team, of all charges against him, noting that the anti-corruption agency failed to establish any link between Anyanwu and the offences in counts three and four.
In an amended charge dated January 19, 2024, the ICPC filed a four-count charge against Ndifon, the first defendant and his lawyer, Anyanwu, the second defendant.
Ndifon was initially the sole defendant, but Anyanwu was later added after allegations surfaced that he attempted to interfere with the case by calling the star witness during the proceedings to intimidate her.
Anyanwu allegedly phoned the witness, identified as TKJ, urging her not to respond to ICPC invitations or make any statement regarding the sexual harassment allegations against his client.
In the amended charge, counts one and two alleged that Ndifon sexually harassed female students of the institution. The ICPC claimed that while he was Dean of the Faculty of Law, Ndifon asked a female Diploma student and star witness, identified as TKJ, to send him “pornographic, indecent, and obscene photographs of herself” via WhatsApp.
He was further accused of repeatedly asking her to perform a “blow job” for him in exchange for securing admission to study Law.
Ndifon was alleged to have used his position as a public officer to sexually harass multiple female students and to secure undue advantage over them.
While count three was brought exclusively against Anyanwu, both he and Ndifon were jointly charged in count four for attempting to interfere with the course of justice.
On February 14, 2024, the ICPC closed its case against the two defendants after its fourth witness, forensic analyst Bwaigu Fungo, concluded his cross-examination.
The defendants then filed a no-case submission, contending that the prosecution had not established its allegations.
However, on March 6, 2024, Omotosho dismissed their application and directed them to open their defence.
Ndifon took the stand as the first defence witness (DW1), while Babagana Mingali, a chief superintendent of police and forensic analyst with the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), appeared as the second defence witness (DW2).
In his judgment, Omotosho ruled that the ICPC had successfully proven the key elements of the offences outlined in counts one and two, and observed that Ndifon had not refuted evidence indicating that he had exerted undue pressure on TKJ to engage in immoral acts.
“The victim was desirous of being admitted into the university, and the 1st defendant was in a position of advantage to help her, being the dean, and the diploma course is under his supervision.
“The instances of undue advantage are so much. The 1st defendant abused his office,” the judge said, adding that the court found Ndifon not to be a witness of truth.
“Consequently, the 1st defendant is hereby convicted of count one and count two,” the judge ruled.
Regarding count three, the judge noted that while Anyanwu did call TKJ, the call occurred roughly four months before the investigation began. He stated that the court could not speculate on Anyanwu’s intentions at that time, and consequently discharged and acquitted him of both counts three and four.
“It was with dismay that I read through this case that a Dean of Law can turn himself into a sexual predator,” he said, describing Ndifon as “a disgrace to the community of learned persons” who must face the consequences of his actions.”
He further stated that the sentence is intended to serve as a warning to other public officers who abuse their positions to exploit women.
Nanji is an investigative journalist with the ICIR. She has years of experience in reporting and broadcasting human angle stories, gender inequalities, minority stories, and human rights issues. She has documented sexual war crimes in armed conflict, sex for grades in Nigerian Universities, harmful traditional practices and human trafficking.