President Muhammadu Buhari has said that male teachers or lecturers who abuse female students should be made to face the full wrath of the law.
The president was officially reacting to the high wave of sex for grades in Nigerian tertiary institutions.
A few days ago, Kiki Mordi of the BBC in a documentary exposed the escapades of some male lecturers who sexually assault female students or admission seekers.
Reacting through Mr Garba Shehu, the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Buhari faulted incidents of sexual abuse against the females and appealed to victims to report such cases to the relevant agencies.
He said in a statement, “Survivors and their families must avoid cover-up. They should be encouraged to come forth and report cases of abuses wherever and whenever they occur.”
Buhari expressed his joy over the BBC documentary, saying it has spurred an amendment to the nation’s laws regarding the issue in the National Assembly.
He promised that that such proposed amendments passed by the Legislature would get his support as long as they conform to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Shehu quoted him as saying, “The country must do more to address incidents of sexual violence, sexual abuses in our schools, discrimination, human trafficking and cultural practices that violate women’s rights.”
The president admonished school administrators to collaborate with law enforcement agencies to fish out the perpetrators of such devilish act.
Following the BBC Sex For Grades Documentary, authorities of the University of Lagos had suspended two of its staff.
The suspended staff members who were caught in the 53-minute videotape are:
- Dr Boniface Igbeneghu of the Department of European Languages and Integrated Studies, Faculty of Arts.
- Dr Samuel Oladipo of the Department of Economics
UNILAG management also urged students to come forward with any cases of sexual harassment. At the time of this report, there are more than five lecturers who had been suspended by their employer for such an act.
