Reactions have continued to trail the SexForGrades documentary published on Monday by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) targeted at lecturers in some West African Universities who harass their students for sex in exchange for grades or marks.
BBC Africa Eye, after interviewing several students who had been abused, sent undercover journalists posing as students to lecturers who were in the habit of harassing students.
Dr. Boniface Igbeneghu of the Department of European Languages and Integrated Studies, Faculty of Arts, University of Lagos (UNILAG) was caught on camera making sexual demands to offer admission to the undercover journalist who disguised as a 17-year-old admission seeker.
Following this exposure, the management of UNILAG, rising from an emergency meeting suspended Dr. Boniface while it ordered the shutdown of the Staff Club ‘Cold Room’ mentioned in the documentary for further investigation.
The lecturer who is a part-time pastor with the Foursquare Gospel Church has also been asked by the Church leadership to step down from all ministerial assignments until further notice.
The full version of the video also exposed another UNILAG lecturer, Dr. Samuel Oladipo of the Economics Department making sexual advances towards her with the promise of helping her with her studies.
Daily Trust gathered that Oladipo has also been suspended indefinitely by the University management.
The vice-chancellor of UNILAG, Professor Oluwatoyin Ogundipe confirmed the indefinite suspension of Dr. Oladipo to allow for thorough and unbiased investigations while he reaffirmed the University’s zero-tolerance for unethical practices including sexual harassment.
Some Nigerians have, however, launched attacks against the lecturers on social media, calling on the University management to ensure that all lecturers involved are prosecuted while some others stressed the need to enforce dress code in tertiary institutions; saying, some female students seduce their lecturers into having sexual affair with them.
A Lagos-based legal practitioner, Jiti Ogunye, on his own part said that the lecturer is presumed innocent in the eye of the law and should be given the chance to get justice just like his alleged victims.
He urged the management of UNILAG and the law enforcement agencies to put Dr. Boniface Igbeneghu under 24hours surveillance to avoid any suicide attempt; noting that the furore that the revelation had generated could cause the lecturer to contemplate suicide.
“Dr. Boniface has an enviable social standing in society. He is a pastor, presumably a husband and a father.
“As such, with the revelations in the BBC Africa report, contemplation of suicide in a situation like this can be imagined to escape public shaming, social humiliation, career ruination and ecclesiastical ex-communication.
“Therefore, he needs safety and security protection by institutions that exist in our society that handle matters such as this,” he said.
Also, Margaret Amoakohene, chairperson of the anti-sexual harassment committee of the University of Ghana (UG), says there is no evidence that two of its lecturers, Yaw Gyampo, a professor of political science, and Paul Butakor, a lecturer at the College of Education seen in the sex-for-grades video documentary slept with their alleged victims.
She said that even though the lecturers’ behaviour was unacceptable and should be investigated, there was no evidence that they slept with any student.
