UNICAL Prof Suspended Over Rlleged Rape Of Student

The Dean, Faculty of Law, University of Calabar, Prof. Cyril Ndifon, accused of sexually assaulting a 20-year-old 400-level student in hishare,,ffice was yesterday suspended by the panel instituted by the school’s Vice Chancellor, Professor Ivara Esu.

Professor Ndifon, who is the first professor of Law from Cross River State, was briefly arrested and detained by the police and later released on Wednesday before he was suspended yesterday evening by the panel set up to investigate him.

The professor was accused by mother of the victim, Mrs. Irene Akpan, in a letter sent to the university, alleging that the incident happened between 3 and 5pm on August 29 at the dean’s private office on the top floor of the faculty building.

According to the lady, Professor Ndifon forcibly had sex with her daughter after a fierce struggle. The school authorities confirmed receipt of complaints from the victim, while the police also affirmed it but was quick to add that the matter was undergoing thorough investigation.

Narrating her daughter’s ordeal, Mrs Akpan explained that the dean had set a one-hour test for the students on that Saturday, assigning two lecturers to carry out the supervision.

She alleged that 20 minutes to the end of allotted time, Ndifon entered the hall and ordered the students to stop writing.

She said while the students were preparing to submit their answer sheets, Ndifon approached her daughter, tore her answer sheet and left the shreds on the seat.

Mrs. Akpan said: “He walked straight to my daughter’s desk, collected the script and tore it. He left the torn script on her seat, so the girl collected the pieces and put them in her bag. According to her, you will still have to pass through the faculty before leaving the building.

“She said as they were leaving, the dean accosted her again and asked if she still had the shredded script, she said yes. He instructed her to follow him to the general dean’s office to recopy the answers on another plain sheet, which she did.”

“The unsuspecting girl followed him to the general office where two people were, including the dean’s secretary. The office of the dean is on the first floor of the building, according to my daughter.

“She said while writing in that office, the dean who had earlier gone out, came in again and instructed her to follow him to his private office on the second floor so that she could comfortably use the table.”

The victim’s mother said five minutes after getting to his private office, the dean locked the door, concealed the key and started making advances, adding that they struggled but Ndifon subdued her and had sex with the girl.

She said her daughter was later taken to Airport Police Station, along IBB Way in Calabar, where she gave statement and also had medical examinations at the police clinic.

The Public Relations Officer of the university, Mr. Effiong Eyo, said the institution was seriously looking into the matter.

“A panel has been set up to look into the matter. The authorities are looking seriously into it,” Eyo said.

Also, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Hogan Bassey, said the command was investigating the case.

He said: “The case of rape or sexual assault requires discreet investigation and we have to handle it with care.”

Estelle says:All these Mr Lecturers sha,Na so God go dey catch una one by one.

Rape: UNILAG Lecturer Stays In Prison, Shuns Appearance In Court

Observers that filled a Lagos Magistrate’s Court to capacity were let down on Wednesday as Dr. Akin Baruwa, who reportedly raped an 18-year-old University of Lagos admission seeker, failed to show up in court.

It was learnt that Baruwa, a lecturer at the university’s Distance Learning Institute, who had been in remand at the Kirikiri Prison since August 7, reportedly declined to follow the prison officers while they were coming to the court with other inmates.

The defendant had been in trouble since August 3, when he was arrested by the police for allegedly raping his friend’s daughter inside an office at the institution’s Department of Accounting.

It was reported earlier that the teenage girl had, on the order of her father, followed Baruwa to the school on July 23 to assist her in gaining admission into the university.

The 42-year-old lecturer had owned up to having a sexual intercourse with the girl although he claimed it was “consensual.”

He was subsequently arraigned on one count of rape and granted bail in the sum of N250,000 with two sureties in like sum, while his case file was sent to the Directorate of Public Prosecutions for legal advice.

But the bail conditions had yet to be perfected as of Wednesday when he refused to show up in court.

A lawyer from the Office of the Public Defender, Mrs. Ibidun Ibikunle, while refuting the claim by the defence counsel that he (Baruwa) was absent in court on health grounds, told the court that he refused to answer prison officers when he was called.

Ibikunle, who held brief for the complainant, said, “What the defence counsel said is not true. I spoke with the head of the prison warders earlier today (Wednesday) and he did not tell me anything like that. He said when the warders were coming to court with other defendants, they called him, but he refused to follow them. So, I don’t know where the defence counsel got the claim that Baruwa is ill from.”

The defence counsel, Terry Adeniji, had earlier told the court that Baruwa was critically ill, adding that it had been difficult to perfect his bail conditions.

He said, “My Lord, the defendant is critically ill and I learnt he has been admitted in a hospital. It has been very difficult to secure his bail. What we are thinking is that if we are able to secure his bail, he will have access to a better medical care. We believe the law is not one-way traffic and it is when he is well enough that he can face the trial on this matter. In fact, according to the law, he is still presumed innocent in respect of this matter.”

The prosecutor, Jimah Ishegede, said the counsel was not in the position to prove whether the accused was ill or not. He, however, said he did not object to the counsel’s bail application.

The presiding magistrate, Mr. T. Elias, adjourned the case till September 21, 2015 for the outcome of the DPP’s advice.

Meanwhile, the victim’s mother has expressed her displeasure at the way the incident is being handled by an investigation panel set up by UNILAG.

The woman said she was not satisfied with the defence put up by the head of the panel when she enquired about how Baruwa had access to the office.

She said, “The panel invited us in August. They asked the girl how the incident went and she explained. When they insisted they did not know him, I asked the professor who interviewed us how Baruwa had access to the office

“She replied that it could be that a lecturer friend of Baruwa gave him access to the office to carry out a research. I am not satisfied with the reply.”

12-yr-Old Girl Raped By Her Step Brother

A 12-year-old girl (name withheld) has contracted the dreaded HIV/AIDS disease after she was allegedly raped by her 25 year old step brother, Abdullahi Mohammed and his friends at her father's house in Jahi district in Abuja.

According to Daily Trust, the girl's father and mother separated and the father married another woman who already had a son from a previous relationship.

Narrating what happened, the girl said her step brother started raping her when she was 8 years old and each time he raped her, he would threaten to kill her if she told their father. 

“My father married my step mother who has a son. We were living peacefully until one night when I was lying on the floor and Brother Abdullahi came and started fondling my breasts. When he didn’t see breasts, he said he would suck them until they came out. When I objected, he raped me. He used a handkerchief to wipe off the blood that was coming out from my private part. He threatened to slash my throat if I told anybody.  I didn’t tell anybody and it continued. He raped me every night; and sometimes he brought his friends, especially Ahmed along with him to rape me,” she said.  

The girl said she feared she would be killed by her step brother or suffer maltreatment from her step mother if she told anyone what he was doing to her. 

She was diagnosed with AIDS after her father took her to the hospital following her constant poor state of health. Doctors carried out various test on her and discovered she had HIV/AIDS.  It was when her father, who was very angry, sought to know how she contracted the deadly disease, that she revealed that her step brother, Abdullahi and his friends, had raped her for four years. Subsequently, her father reported the case to the police at Mabushi and the two men were arrested. They confessed to the crime.

Police reports however shows that the case took a new twist when the two suspects were taken to the hospital and their medical reports came out HIV negative.  It is been speculated that the girl's mother was HIV positive when she had her.

  “She was not tested when she was an infant, and maybe she was HIV positive from birth. Her half brother confessed that he was the first man to have had sex with the victim and how she got that HIV still remains a mystery,” a police source said. 

When contacted, the Mabushi divisional police officer, Chief Superintendent Ayobami Surajudeen confirmed the story and said that having gotten medical reports, the case would now be transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department

Estelle says: When will these animalistic behaviours stop.

Source: Daily Trust