Sexual harassment: minister warns lecturers, pledges to deal with perpetrators

The Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, has warned members of the academia and the university community over sexual harassments on campuses, stressing that the ministry would deal decisively with perpetrators of such acts. Mamman gave the warning in Abuja on Thursday when he received the report of the committee on alleged sexual harassment by the Dean, Faculty of Law, University of Calabar, Prof. Cyril Ndifo. He said that sexual harassment was a serious criminal offence that must be dealt with decisively, when and whenever it occured. He added that the ministry would do everything humanly possible to stem the ugly tide in institutions of higher learning. He noted that the offence of sexual harassment was cancerous and must be eliminated at all cost, adding that all hands must be on deck to tackle the menace in the education system. He also maintained that the administration of President Bola Tinubu would protect the vulnerable groups within the country’s education system. The minister said he would evoke the long arm of the law to ensure that perpetrators were adequately punished, saying that no one would be allowed to take advantage of the vulnerable groups. “Sexual offenses units will be established in the ministry and all institutions of higher learning to deal with the menace,” he said. Earlier in the presentation of her report, the Vice-Chancellor, University of Calabar, Prof. Florence Obi, said the university had followed all due processes in handling the matter, including the suspension of the suspect, appropriate queries and setting up of a disciplinary committee to hear all parties. According to her, in order to ensure a very high degree of transparency, the Public Complaint Commission (PCC) and the Nigeria Bar Association(NBA) are brought on board the committee as observers. Others, she said, were the Federation of Female Lawyers, ICPC, the Chief Judge of the Student’s Union, High Court as well as seven Civil Society Organisations (CSOs).