By Halimah Olamide
The Nigerian Bar Association on Tuesday said it is closely monitoring developments in the festering crisis at the University of Calabar, where the Dean of the Faculty of Law, Prof Cyril Idifon, has been accused of sexually harassing female students of the Faculty.
The NBA is the umbrella body of Nigerian lawyers. Responding to an inquiry by the NPO Reports on Tuesday, Habeeb Akorede, NBA’s National Publicity Secretary, said the NBA is interested in the matter and watching developments. “We are taking note and rest assured, as a Bar, we will do the right thing even as we will be guided by the right to fair hearing,” Akorede told the NPO Reports. Asked when the bar would make a formal pronouncement on the matter, Akorede said , “Not until we have ascertained all the available and important facts.”
Female students of the faculty had on Monday staged a protest on the campus of the institution demanding the removal of the Dean. An organisation, Document Women, had on Tuesday released details of alleged previous sexual harassment cases made against Ndifon. He was said to have been suspended in 2015 but made his way back to the institution. The university was yet to make a formal statement as at Tuesday.