The suspended Dean of the Law Faculty at the University of Calabar (UNICAL), Prof. Cyril Ndifon, has taken legal action against the institution’s Vice Chancellor, Prof. Florence Obi, alleging character defamation.
Prof. Ndifon has filed a lawsuit naming the UNICAL Vice Chancellor and three others as defendants. He expresses his dissatisfaction with what he perceives as an attempt to tarnish his reputation, even though he claims he did nothing wrong.
In his suit, presented before the National Industrial Court in Calabar, the other defendants include the UNICAL Registrar and Prof. Dorathy Oluwagbemi-Jacob.
Prof. Ndifon accuses the Vice Chancellor of colluding with Mr. Obi Benedict Otu, the president of LAWSAN (Unical chapter), and one Destiny Omokiti, who is reportedly one of the Vice Chancellor’s nieces, to orchestrate a protest against him in an effort to undermine his position.
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According to him, “Shortly after the said protest, Mr. Otu issued a statement where he revealed that he deliberately hid his intention and real purpose of the protest from innocent students, who were freshers and upon thier concealment of purpose, tendered a public apology, that excerpt went viral at the social media.
“My right and freedom of movement to the University of Càlabar premises has been restricted and curtailed by order of the vice chancellor. I am gravely prejudiced on account thereof.
“To remove me from office as Dean of Law Faculty without any prior vote taken at a meeting of faculty of law board for purpose, constitutes a departure from the prescriptions of the University of Calabar Act.”
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In response to the lawsuit, the university’s Public Relations Officer, Mr. Effiong Eyo, clarified that UNICAL had merely established a panel to investigate allegations against Prof. Ndifon.
He said: “No one has found him guilty, what we did was to investigate the alleged misconduct but since he felt court was the only option, we will be there for the hearing.”