Prof. Cyril Ndifon, the suspended Dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Calabar (UNICAL), Tuesday, denied sending nud3 photographs or soliciting explicit material from the petitioner.
Ndifon told Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court, Abuja, that he did not send or request explicit photographs from anyone in the sexual harassment case brought against him by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).
Ndifon, together with his lawyer, Samuel Anyanwu, is standing trial on four counts of alleged sexual harassment, cybercrime, and attempt to pervert the course of justice.
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The commission alleged that Prof. Ndifon while serving as the Dean of the Faculty of Law at UNICAL, requested a female diploma student to send him “pornographic, indecent, and obscene photographs of herself” through WhatsApp chats.
Anyanwu, one of the lawyers for the defence, was joined in the amended charge filed on January 22, 2024, by the ICPC on the allegation that he called one of the prosecution witnesses on her mobile phone during the pendency of the charge against Ndifon to threaten her.
Both defendants pleaded not guilty when the charges were read to them.
While being led in evidence by his lawyer, Joe Agi, SAN, Ndifon said “In the pictures, I did not see my face nor that of the prosecution star witness, identified as TKJ.”
“I did not send any nude photographs neither did I solicit for any. This (Oppo phone) is not the phone I used to chat with her.”
He alleged in court on Tuesday, January 14, that pictures extracted from his phone in the ongoing s3xual harassment case were edited.
The former Dean told the court that the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) had edited the pictures alleged to have been taken from his phone.
Ndifon also alleged that the ICPC had not verified the pictures with TKJ’s phone and admitted in court that they did not seek her device for comparison, claiming that the images and chats, marked as “Exhibit H,” were not from his phone.
“Looking at it, slide 661 shows that this document has been edited,” Ndifon said. “I haven’t gone through the whole document, so I don’t know which other part was edited. I watched the video slide, but I didn’t see my face or TKJ’s.”
The professor expressed shock at the prosecution’s approach, stating that he was not invited to witness the extraction of evidence.
He also questioned the timing of TKJ’s statements to the ICPC, which were made after he had already been charged in October 2023.
Ndifon further alleged that TKJ, now a student in the Faculty of Law at UNICAL, gained admission under questionable circumstances.
He claimed that despite her not being qualified, she was admitted after testifying against him.
According to him, TKJ had approached him through her uncle, who claimed she paid someone in the Vice Chancellor’s Office ₦100,000 to secure admission into the Faculty of Law.
Ndifon said he refused to assist, as admission had closed and she scored 102 in her JAMB examination. He advised her to enrol in a diploma programme and aim for admission through direct entry.
He also refuted allegations of requesting oral s3x or making any advances towards TKJ, asserting that the alleged incident occurred when he was no longer Dean of the Faculty of Law.
“I’m totally shocked she came to testify because nothing like that happened,” he stated.
During cross-examination by ICPC counsel, Osuobeni Akponimisingha, Ndifon admitted that lecturers in the Faculty of Law at the university also teach at the diploma institute.
He acknowledged knowing one Dr Owoche, a lecturer in the Faculty of Law but said he was unaware if Owoche also taught at the institute.
Ndifon was reminded of a 2015 case involving a 20-year-old 400-level student who accused him of rape. He admitted that the student had been caught in exam malpractice at her 100 level but denied being the one who caught her cheating.
He acknowledged that the matter escalated after the school wrote to the Nigerian Law School, Bwari, about the said malpractice.
Ndifon admitted to being part of the committee that investigated the exam malpractice case against the student. A document from the Council for Legal Education that included his signature was presented to him.
Akponimisingha sought to tender the document as evidence before the court, but Ndifon’s counsel, Joe Agi, objected, stating that it is a public document and should be certified before being tendered.
The ICPC responded, stating that the first page is a Certified True Copy and referencing the other documents attached.
Anyanwu was also charged with allegedly threatening a prosecution witness during the pendency of the case. Both Ndifon and Anyanwu have pleaded not guilty.
In a short ruling, Justice Omotosho dismissed the objection from the defence counsel, admitted the document as Exhibit DWG, and adjourned proceedings until February 12 and 13 for the continuation of cross-examination.
