The management of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, (UNIZIk), Anambra State, announced the suspension of several lecturers accused of sexual harassment at the school.
The Vice Chancellor of the UNIZIK, Prof. Charles Esimone, removed Mr. Afam Ezeaku, a lecturer in the Faculty of Law, and others accused of sexual harassment by students of the university.
The Special Adviser to the Vice Chancellor on Public Relations and Special Duties, Dr. Emmanuel Ojukwu, disclosed this in a statement made available to newsmen on Friday.
This comes on the heels of protests by UNIZIK students against sexual harassment in the school.
It was reported that the protesting students, mainly females, demanded the Vice Chancellor release immediately the report by the Prof. Obi Oguejiofor-led panel, which they claim indicted some staff of the university.
The students expressed their dismay as to why nothing had been done to those indicted in the panel report.
Confirming that the school had set up a sexual harassment committee that was treating the matter “very strictly”, Ojukwu stated on Friday that it was not true that students of UNIZIK protested against sexual harassment.
According to Ojukwu, “It is important to state that there was no protest of any sort at the university.
“However, there is an ongoing investigation concerning alleged sexual harassment by some lecturers. The Vice-Chancellor immediately removed the affected lecturers from their official positions and issued those affected strong warning letters in the affected departments.”
Ojukwu, however, lamented that the bottleneck in tackling the issue of sexual harassment in UNIZIK was that the students who leveled the allegations did not come forward to testify before the panel.
“It is important to state that there was no protest of any sort at the university.
In all cases of sexual harassment that were known to the institution, the institution has brought the culprits involved before the panel and cautioned them by giving them letters of warning and removing them from any official position they were holding.
“The reason for this is that the institution wanted the students who made the allegations to come forward, but they refused, so that is the hindrance. You know, the university has to be careful so that it does not miscarry justice, because if the lecturers concerned go to court, it will be a liability for the school.
“This is because the students who make complaints don’t usually come forward to testify, and what the institution has done is warn the lecturers pending when the students would come to testify,” he said.
Furthermore, Ojukwu stated that the Vice Chancellor also summoned the affected departments to a meeting where he expressed the university’s displeasure and warned lecturers and staff to desist from all actions that would bring the name of the university into disrepute.
