The star witness, identified as TKJ (pseudonym), presented by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), testified on Tuesday that Prof. Cyril Ndifon, the suspended Dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Calabar (UNICAL), pressured her to trade her virginity for admission into the institution.
TKJ, the ICPC’s second prosecution witness (PW2), made these allegations before Justice James Omotosho at the Federal High Court in Abuja while being questioned by the commission’s lawyer, Osuobeni Akponimisingha.
According to TKJ, she first encountered Ndifon during her Diploma 1 program when some senior students introduced her to him while they were offering condolences for the passing of his mother.
TKJ recounted that Ndifon contacted her upon her return to school, inquiring about her whereabouts, to which she confirmed her presence.
However, TKJ testified that during a subsequent visit to Ndifon’s office, the professor made unwelcome physical advances, attempting to hold her waist against her will.
Furthermore, TKJ informed the court that Ndifon requested her presence on a public holiday and urged her to engage in sexual activity, despite her being menstruating at the time.
UNICAL Student said: “On a public holiday, he asked me to come to his office.
“He pulled his trousers. I told him to stop and that I was on my period (menstruation). He asked ‘won’t I give him my virginity again’?
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“I said I was on my period. He put his hand inside my pad. He asked when my period would finish and asked me to sit down.
“He brought out his manhood and asked that I give him a blow job. I told him I can’t. He said I shouldn’t embarrass him.
“He put his manhood back inside his trousers and told me to leave his office.
“When I was about leaving, I begged him that I was sorry. UNICAL Student said
“That day, I was not on my period; I just had to wear the pad because of the advances he had been making at me.
“I went back to WhatsApp to apologise and told him I was sorry. He was my only hope for the admission, something I had looked for for years.”
As per the witness’s testimony, following the incident, the dean who was suspended began pressuring her for nude videos.
Despite UNICAL campus protests against sexual harassment, the suspended dean persistently solicited additional nude photographs from her.
Moreover, the witness informed the court that during the University panel investigation, the suspended dean arrived at the front of her hostel in a car with tinted glass. She recounted joining him in the car for a discussion, during which Ndifon attempted to touch her inappropriately.
Despite the UNICAL Student resistance, Ndifon forcibly engaged in sexual misconduct by exposing himself and coercing her into oral sex. Following this ordeal, Ndifon transferred N3000 to her account for her to seek medical care, upon her providing him with her account details.
After presenting her testimony, the prosecution counsel sought to submit the N3000 bank receipt sent to the witness as evidence, which was admitted as an exhibit after Ndifon’s lawyer, Joe Agi, SAN, withdrew his objection.
Justice Omotosho adjourned the proceedings until February 7th for further continuation.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria, Ndifon was re-arraigned on January 25th alongside Sunny Anyanwu as the 1st and 2nd defendants on an amended four-count charge related to alleged sexual harassment and attempts to obstruct justice.
Anyanwu, a member of the defense team, was included in the amended charge filed on January 22nd by the ICPC, alleging that he threatened one of the prosecution witnesses by calling her mobile phone during the ongoing case against Ndifon. #UNICAL
(DailyPost)