The management of the University of Calabar has suspended Prof. Cyril Ndifon, Dean, Faculty of Law, for alleged violation of the institution’s extant laws and policies.
The letter, which conveyed the suspension, was signed by the university’s Registrar, Mr Gabriel Egbe.
It stated that the suspension took effect from Thursday.
BRANDPOWER reports that Ndifon was suspended on the heels of a protest by some law students in the institution.
The protesters accused him of “high-handedness and improper behaviour toward female students”.
Prof Cyril Ndifon had earlier reacted to allegations of harassing female law students sexually insisting on his innocence
Several students had staged a protest in the institution, accusing Ndifon of frequently harassing them sexually.
It would be recalled that in 2016, Ndifon was also suspended after being accused of sexually assaulting a 20-year-old 400 level student in 2015.
The suspension was validated by the National Industrial Court in 2016.
Egbe stated Ndifon’s latest suspension came as a follow up to the his response to a query issued to him by the management, which the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Florence Obi, was reportedly not satisfied with.
The letter stated that Obi suspended Ndifon while the matter was referred to a panel to be set up to investigate the allegations levelled against him.
“Please refer to our letter Ref. UC/REG/DISC.45A dated Aug. 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 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,” it said.
According to the letter, the vice chancellor directed the dean to hand over all university properties in his possession, including all official responsibilities to the Sub-Dean of the faculty before vacating office.
In an interview with CrossRiverWatch, an online platform, the Dean had debunked the allegations.
He claimed that the protest by the law students was masterminded by some persons in the faculty who had sworn to pull him down.
Ndifon described the allegations as barefaced lies aimed at tarnishing his image.
He said: “Since I defeated some persons in an election that was keenly contested, to emerge as Dean of the faculty, it hasn’t been easy. I had skipped several booby traps. These allegations are baselessly masterminded by my detractor, who had vowed to ensure that my image is dragged to the mud just because I won the faculty elections twice.
“If you look at the placards, you will discover that the placards have one person’s handwriting. Again, how come the protesters know that we were holding a meeting with the Vice Chancellor if it is not the handiwork of an insider.
“We were supposed to hold a meeting with the Vice Chancellor to enable us iron out important issues troubling us in the faculty, while the meeting was on-going, we were told that some students were outside with placards, protesting against me, demanding that I should be unseated.
“From what I am told, LAWSAN President, Benedict Otu, cajoled some students that they were to go for a meeting with the Vice Chancellor at her office, only to dish out placards bearing false representations about the Dean, and asked his colleagues to chant slogans that berated my personality.
“This won’t work. Colleagues of mine who are bent on tarnishing my reputation just to destroy me. The question is: Where are the victims of sexual harassment? Can someone harass girls without the ladies coming out to raise the alarm that they were sexually harassed?
“For Christ sake, I don’t teach Year 2 B or Year one students, so I don’t know why they have chosen to drag my name to the mud. This was why I said earlier that the allegations were lies, cooked from the pit of hell, just to destroy a reputation that I had spent decades building.”
