ICPC witness in inappropriate relationship with suspended UNICAL

An investigator from the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, Lucy Ogechi, on Thursday, said a diplomat student, (a witness) (name withheld based on the order of the court to protect the victim) was in an inappropriate relationship with the suspended Dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Calabar, Cyril Ndifon.

Ogechi stated this in court after the counsel for the defendant, Joe Agi (SAN), had insinuated that a love affair existed between the student and Ndifon.

Agi had, during cross-examination, told Ogechi to read a portion of the forensic report containing the chats between the professor and the student.

The student who is the prosecution’s star witness had said she loved the professor.

But Ogechi said the diploma student did that to enable her to get admission into the university.

She said, “According to what is here, our witness sent ‘I love you’ to the first defendant.

“But our witness is in an inappropriate relationship with the first defendant. She did that to gain admission.”

Ogechi also said the professor made the student spy on the panel investigating him.

She said,  “The first defendant had given her the Zoom link password and instructed her to spy on the university panel investigating him.

“As instructed, at every stage the witness was briefing the first defendant on what was happening.”

The first defendant’s lawyer asked the ICPC investigator if she knew that the second defendant wrote a petition against the university’s Vice-Chancellor and her daughter.

Ogechi said,  “Petitions are received by the chairman and not me. I only read it on the Internet. Any team could have been assigned that petition but I wasn’t.”

Agi also asked if all the statements tendered as exhibits had allegations against the ICPC’s star witness.

Ogechi stated, “In the statements tendered, there was no question on the victim because the forensic report was not out.”

While responding to the follow-up question by Agi on whether a complaint was received from the ICPC’s star witness,  Ogechi responded in the negative.

“We did not. We received from a lot of people. There were oral and written complaints against the first defendant,” she explained.

Ogechi said there had been a petition against the professor in 2015, adding that the allegations continued till 2023.

She said,  “We went on a fact-finding mission concerning the 2015 petition against the first defendant and there we found out that, there had been a lot of allegations and a panel set up by the university authority to look into the allegations of sexual harassment.

“The offences we were investigating continued from 2015 to 2023 and we know there are no restrictions against the criminal offence. ”

After listening to the witness testimony, the trial judge,  James Omotoso, subsequently adjourned the hearing on the matter till February 5.

He promised to hear the bail application of the two defendants and take the testimony of the ICPC’s star witness.

Ndifon is standing trial alongside Sunny Anyanwu on an amended four-count charge bordering on alleged sexual harassment and an attempt to perverse the cause of justice.

Anyanwu is one of the lawyers in Ndifon’s team.

He was joined in the amended charge filed on January 22 by the ICPC on the allegation that he called one of the prosecution witnesses on her mobile telephone during the pendency of the charge against Ndifon to threaten her.