The development comes 24 hours after the British Broadcasting Service (BBC) through a video documentary “Africa Eye” reveled what goes on in the location.
The documentary had also exposed one of the lectures Prof. Boniface Igbeneghu, sexually assaulting an undercover journalist who pretended to be a student seeking for admission into the university.
In a recent interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), UNILAG Vice-Chancellor Prof. Oluwatoyin Ogundipe maintained that the institution has “zero tolerance for the ugly trend.”
He said: “Currently, there are cases that we are looking into and I want to say that we will not compromise standards, as we will ensure that we take appropriate actions.”
Ogundipe said an investigation was ongoing on the case reported in 2018 by a blogger on alleged sexual harassment by a professor in the English department. He said a high-level probe committee made up of senior lecturers had since been set up and that the only setback was the inability to get the victim to show up.
“All efforts to reach her through the telephone lines made available to us proved abortive. The case is still open and ongoing, pending when we get all these facts. We are not going to cover anything up. As soon as she appears before the committee with established evidence, we will conclude the case and come out with a firm position.”
UNILAG don, Prof. Gab Babawale, told The Guardian that the university has a strong policy against sexual abuse and harassment and that anyone who violates the rules must face the penalty. Also, Prof. Muyiwa Awodiya noted that the lecturer’s alleged action is “shameful and condemnable”.
Reacting, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and former Senate President Bukola Saraki yesterday joined other Nigerians in calling for an end to the sex-for-grades phenomena.
Atiku on his Twitter handle said: “This is unacceptable and requires systemic strategies to put a deterrence to such behaviour. As a society, we cannot allow a trend that is psychologically abusive to young women to thrive. In fact, that’s a direct opposite of what a sound educational system represents.”
Saraki, on his part, wrote: “As a father, I’m appalled by the actions of lecturers captured in the exposé. We cannot allow this sort of deplorable behaviour to fester.”
He appealed to the Ninth Senate to revisit the Sexual Harassment in Tertiary Education Institution Prohibition Bill “so that we can implement the institutional reforms necessary to safeguard our children.”
He also urged affected institutions “to conduct robust investigations, not only on the accused, but also for all other reports and complaints that come in. We need to believe victims and make institutions safer for our students.”
Meanwhile, Igbeneghu has reportedly declined comment on the matter, urging inquiries to be directed to UNILAG’s information department in accordance with established rules.
This came as another lecturer at the University of Ghana threatened to sue the BBC. Ransford Gyampo, according to the video, had allegedly made sexual advances to an undercover journalist.
Gyampo was reported to have said: “I am suing the BBC for defamation tomorrow. I have not involved myself in the BBC’s so-called sex-for-grades and will never do so. The lady involved in my informal conversation was not my student and she wasn’t also a student from the University of Ghana where I teach. I therefore cannot decipher how I could manipulate the grade of a non-student.”
