Sexual assault conviction: Victim’s family hails Abuja court judgement

The family of the 2015 survivor of sexual harassment perpetrated by the convict, Prof. Cyril Ndifon, the suspended Dean of University of Calabar (UNICAL), has hailed the court judgment. Chief Offiong Etim, in a statement made available to newsmen on Monday in Abuja on behalf of the family, said the judgment affirmed what they had […]

The family of the 2015 survivor of sexual harassment perpetrated by the convict, Prof. Cyril Ndifon, the suspended Dean of University of Calabar (UNICAL), has hailed the court judgment.

Chief Offiong Etim, in a statement made available to newsmen on Monday in Abuja on behalf of the family, said the judgment affirmed what they had always known.

Etim said they welcomed the conviction and sentencing of Ndifon to five-year imprisonment for sexual harassment and abuse of office, without option of fine.

It would be recalled that Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court in Abuja had, on Nov. 17, handed down the five-year jail term to the UNICAL professor.

Justice Omotosho held that the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) had been able to prove the evidence in counts one and two beyond reasonable doubt against Ndifon.

The judge, therefore, sentenced him to two-year jail term in count one and five-year imprisonment in count two without an option of fine and which must run concurrently, following Ndifon’s plea for court to temper justice with mercy.

The judge, however, discharged and acquitted Mr Sunny Anyanwu, who was earlier a member of Ndifon’s team of lawyers, of the charges against him.

Reacting, Etim said: “This judgment, though inadequate compared to Ndifon’s atrocities, at least brings a measure of closure to a deeply painful journey that began in 2015 when our daughter courageously spoke out where others were intimidated into silence and reported the violation she suffered.

 

According to him, for eight years, our family endured humiliation, stigma and emotional trauma, not only because of the assault itself but also because of the public campaign that Ndifon together with his “boys” led against us.

 

Etim said their daughter (name withheld) had innocently believed that she would get justice then.

 

He, however, said it was unfortunate that Ndifon had his way and secured a report of exoneration from the police, and that their daughter was taunted as if that verdict would be the end of the matter.

 

“We remember clearly how, after his reinstatement, Prof. Ndifon held an image laundry thanksgiving service celebrating his ‘exoneration,’ and sarcastically sent an invite to our daughter, in a malevolent bid to spite her and add insult to injury.

 

“In the church, Ndifon and his cohorts publicly dismissed our daughter’s account, portrayed her as a tool in an imagined plot, and framed our family as part of a conspiracy to destroy him.

 

“The officiating Reverend Father went on to corroborate Ndifon’s account and pleaded with him ‘as a child of God to please forgive us for lying against him.’

 

“But God Almighty can never be mocked,” he said.

 

According to him, those words and actions caused wounds that may never fully heal.

 

“They emboldened mockery, strengthened disbelief, and exposed our daughter to shame that no young person should ever bear,” he added.

 

He said Justice Omotosho’s judgment was a reaffirmation of what they already knew. (NAN)