Prof. Cyril Ndifon, the suspended Dean, Faculty of Law, University of Calabar (UNICAL) on Wednesday, denied allegations that he solicited for nude photographs of the female student.
Ndifon, denied the allegations before Justice James Omotosho of a Federal High Court in Abuja while being cross examined by the the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) lawyer, Osuobeni Akponimisingha.
The professor said the female student, identified as TKJ, was like a daughter to him.
” I got to know her from her uncle. She did not send her nude pictures to me and I did not demand for her nude pictures,” he said.
Ndifon denied that the conversations, pictures and videos extracted by the ICPC were from his phone.
“They are not. If you look at it, we can’t vouch for them, they have been edited. I don’t even know where they got the conversations and videos from,” he said.
He said he did not present the phone he claimed to have used in communicating with TKJ to the ICPC because the anti-corruption commission did not request for the student’s own phone.
“The prosecution did not deem it necessary to investigate her phone, so why should I bring mine?” he said.
Ndifon, who admitted to have sent the N3, 000 to TKJ from his First Bank account, said he had given her money many times.
“I sent more than N3, 000 to her, sometimes I give her cash,” he said
Justice Omotosho adjourned the matter until Thursday for continuation of trial.
NAN reports that the suspended dean is standing trial on alleged sexual harassment.
Ndifon, is charged alongside his lawyer, Samuel Anyanwu, with a four counts of charge sexual harassment, cybercrime and attempt to pervert the course of justice.
The ICPC alleged that Ndifon, while serving as the Dean of the Faculty of Law at UNICAL, requested the female Diploma student, identified as TKJ and a star witness, to send him “pornographic, indecent and obscene photographs of herself” through WhatsApp chats.
Anyanwu, one of the lawyers of the defence, was joined in the amended charge filed on Jan. 22, 2024, by the commission on the allegation that he called the star witness on her mobile phone during the pendency of the charge against Ndifon to threaten her.
They both pleaded not guilty when the charge was read to them.