Under fire University of Calabar Dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Calabar, UNICAL, Professor Cyril Ndifon standing trial for sexual harassment has denied allegations that he solicited nude photographs from a female student.
Ndifon arraigned at Federal High Court by Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, in Abuja told prosecuting counsel Osuobeni Akponimisingha, he did not ask the student identified as TKJ to send him her nude photo, saying she was like a daughter to him.
“I got to know her through her uncle. She did not send me her nude pictures, and I did not demand them,” he said.
Ndifon denied that the conversations, pictures, and videos extracted by the ICPC were from his phone.
“They are not. If you look at them, we can’t vouch for their authenticity—they have been edited. I don’t even know where they got the conversations and videos from,” he said.
“The prosecution did not deem it necessary to investigate her phone, so why should I bring mine?” he added.
Ndifon, who admitted to having sent N3,000 to TKJ from his First Bank account, said he had given her money many times.
“I sent her more than N3,000; sometimes I gave her cash,” he said.
Presiding judge Justice James Omotosho of a Omotosho adjourned the matter until Thursday for the continuation of the trial.
Ndifon is charged alongside his lawyer, Samuel Anyanwu, with four counts of sexual harassment, cybercrime, and attempting to pervert the course of justice.
ICPC alleged that while serving as the Dean of the Faculty of Law at UNICAL, Ndifon requested the female diploma student, identified as TKJ and a key witness, to send him “pornographic, indecent, and obscene photographs of herself” via WhatsApp.
