By Solomon Oladipupo
The University of Lagos (UNILAG) has suspended a senior lecturer of the institution, Dr. Boniface Igbeneghu, who was accused of sexual harassment in a new documentary film, Sex for Grades, released by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Africa Eye.
BBC’s undercover journalist, Kiki Mordi, in the documentary had posited as a 17-year-old admission seeker while she secretly filmed the lecturer’s sexual advances towards her.
“Don’t you know you are a beautiful girl? Do you know I am a pastor and I am in my 50s but if I want a girl of 17 years, all I need is a sweet tongue and put some money,” Igbeneghu, a former sub-dean of the Faculty of Arts at the institution, told Mordi.
In its reaction, the management of the school on Monday said it has barred the embattled lecturer from “the university’s academic areas while the suspension subsists unless invited by a panel constituted by the university to investigate the matter.”
Also, the school said it had shut down the Senior Staff Club’s Cold Room as the lecturer revealed as the venue for sexual engagements between females students and lecturers.
“In addition to this, the University Management has ordered the shutdown of the Staff Club “Cold Room” mentioned in the documentary for further investigation.
“The so-called “Cold Room” is a Functions Room that may have been abused because this is a deviation from the purpose for which it was created –seminars, events, etc.,” the school wrote in a press release.
The institution also assured members of the public that any other lecturer mentioned in the full version of the operation – which was released yesterday – would also be suspended to ensure proper investigations are carried out.
