By Kamil Opeyemi
The Department of State Services (DSS) on Thursday confirmed the arrest of the suspended Dean of Faculty of Law, University of Calabar, Professor Cyril Ndifon.
NPO Reports that Ndifon was suspended last month after students of his Faculty of Law staged a protest calling for an end to his being a staff of the institution over alleged sexual harassment.
It was not the first time Ndifon was being accused of similar crime.
The DSS director of public relations and strategic communications, Dr. Peter Afunanya, while confirming this to journalists in Abuja, said Ndifon was arrested on the request of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Crimes Commission (ICPC), after he repeatedly declined to honour their invitation in the widely reported sex scandal case involving him and some law students.
He said Ndifon was arrested in Calabar, Cross River State by its operatives on 4th October, 2023 based on a court order.
Afunanya said, “The ICPC has sought the collaboration of the Department of State Services (DSS), on the University of Calabar (UNICAL) sex scandal matter involving Professor Cyril Ndifon, the erstwhile Dean of Faculty of Law of the Institution.
Sexual Harassment: UNICAL Probes Suspended Dean, Others
“The commission had disclosed the refusal of Ndifon to honour its several invitations thus his eventual arrest in Calabar, Cross River State by its operatives on 4th October, 2023 based on a court order.
However, the Service, following the commission’s request and in the spirit of interagency cooperation, supported it for a successful operation.”
Recall that the sex scandal rocking the University of Calabar took on a legal dimension as Ndifon instituted a suit against the vice chancellor, Prof. Florence Obi, and other officers at the National Industrial Court in Calabar, the Cross River State capital recently.
But the university’s management has told the accused law professor that they would meet in court.
The law professor, who is now on suspension, said he dragged the VC and others to court to seek redress and clear his name from the smear campaign, accusing the VC of sponsoring the protest simply because she wanted him out of his position as dean and in academia.
Also joined in the suit with the VC is the university’s registrar, Prof. Dorathy Oluwagbemi-Jacob, for herself and on behalf of members of the panel investigating alleged misconduct brought against him.
In the Suit No. NICN/CA/42/2023 between Prof. Cyril Ndifon (the claimant), the vice chancellor, University of Calabar, and three others as defendants, Ndifon expressed displeasure over what he described as dragging his image into the mud even when he did nothing wrong.