The Federal High Court in Abuja has sentenced Prof. Cyril Ndifon, the suspended dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Calabar (UNICAL), to five years’ imprisonment after finding him guilty of sexually harassing female students.
Justice James Omotosho delivered the judgment on Monday in a case prosecuted by the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC).
Prof. Ndifon was suspended after a group of female law students staged a protest, accusing him of sexual harassment and abuse of power.
The defendant denied the allegations, claiming the female students were orchestrated by colleagues who opposed his leadership.
The ICPC had filed a four-count charge against Prof. Ndifon in October 2023, detailing multiple acts of sexual misconduct.
The charges include soliciting nude photos and videos from a diploma student via WhatsApp between June and September 2023, and requesting nude images from a 400-level law student, while offering to change her project supervisor to himself in exchange for favourable grades.
Other charges are the defendant requesting photographs of a 16-year-old prospective post-UTME student as inducement for admission into UNICAL’s Faculty of Law, and receiving obscene, indecent images from a female student through WhatsApp.
The ICPC said the offences are contrary to Section 19 of the ICPC Act, punishable under Section 8(1)(a)(ii) of the ICPC Act, Section 18(d) of the ICPC Act, and contrary to Section 24 of the Cybercrime (Prohibition and Prevention) Act, 2015.
An amended charge filed in January 2024, added Sunny Anyanwu, one of Prof. Ndifon’s lawyers, as the second defendant for allegedly attempting to obstruct justice by contacting witnesses.
Delivering his ruling, Justice Omotosho held that the ICPC successfully proved counts one and two beyond any reasonable doubt, describing Prof. Ndifon as a “sexual predator” who abused his position.
“It was with dismay I read through this case that a dean of law can turn himself into a sexual predator,” the judge said, noting that the instances of undue advantage over female students were numerous.
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The court sentenced Prof. Ndifon to two years in prison for count one and five years for count two, to run concurrently, with no option of fine.
Justice Omotosho noted that the court exercised leniency because Prof. Ndifon was a first-time offender and his counsel pleaded for mercy.
“This judgment should serve as a warning to any other randy lecturer harassing female students. It is only a matter of time before the long arm of the law catches up with them,” Omotosho stated.
For the second defendant, Sunny Anyanwu, the court ruled that although he contacted a key witness, the call happened months before the investigation began.
As a result, the court could not infer criminal intent.
He was therefore acquitted, as the ICPC failed to link him to any wrongdoing in counts three and four.
