The Foursquare Gospel Church in Nigeria has ordered Dr Boniface Igbeneghu allegedly involved in the sex-for-grades scandal to step down from all ministerial assignments.
Igbeneghu, a senior lecturer teaching in the Faculty of Arts, at the University of Lagos, Akoka, was caught on tape after a reporter with the British Broadcasting Corporation posed as a prospective student of UNILAG.
BBC Africa Eye investigated academic institutions in West Africa over allegations of sexual harassment by lecturers and caught Dr Igbeneghu, who is one of the pastors of Foursquare Gospel Church in Nigeria in the sex-for-grades documentary by BBC.
The church on Monday in a statement by the National Secretary of the church, Rev Ikechukwu Ugbaja, dissociated itself from the “heinous and unscriptural act” of Igheneghu.
This is as the immediate past Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki has appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari and the 9th National Assembly to revisit the Sexual Harassment in Tertiary Education Institution Prohibition Bill passed by the 8th Senate.
Saraki reacting to the recent Sex-for-grade documentary by BBC Tiger Eye said “As a father, I’m appalled by the actions of lecturers captured in the #SexForGrades exposé. We cannot allow this sort of deplorable behaviour to fester.”
In a statement, the church noted “The attention of the leadership of the Foursquare Gospel Church in Nigeria has been drawn to a video clip trending on social media platforms titled, ‘Sex for grades: Undercover in West Africa Universities – BBC News’ wherein a lecturer at the University of Lagos named Boniface Igbeneghu, also described as a pastor in Foursquare Gospel Church, was allegedly involved in sexual misconduct with some female students of the university.
“The general public is hereby informed that as holiness and Bible-believing church, we do not condone such heinous and unscriptural acts among our ministers.
“We totally dissociate ourselves from the purported conduct of Dr Igbeneghu and promise to take appropriate measures as soon as the ongoing investigation is concluded.
“Meanwhile, the pastor in question has been asked to step down from all ministerial assignments.”
Recall that a Nigerian university sacked Professor Richard Akindele who was caught on tape allegedly demanding sex from a female student in exchange for upgrading marks.
Akindele of Accounting Department was fired by Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) in southwest Nigeria after an investigation into allegations by the university confirmed Akindele’s voice on the tape soliciting sex from his student, Monica Osagie.
