News of his suspension was contained in a statement signed by Edward Aihevba, the university’s spokesman, in which it was noted that Igbafen had been arraigned before the Senior Staff Disciplinary Committee (SSDC) on allegations of gross misconduct bordering on sexual harassment and threatening students to have sex with him in exchange for marks.
Professor Monday Igbafen, Chairman of the Ambrose Alli University (AAU) chapter of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), has been suspended by university authorities over allegations of sexual assault.
Igbafen, an Associate Professor of the Department of Philosophy, was suspended after his arraignment before a disciplinary committee on allegations of sexual misconduct.
News of his suspension was contained in a statement signed by Edward Aihevba, the university’s spokesman, which noted that Igbafen had been arraigned before the Senior Staff Disciplinary Committee (SSDC) on allegations of gross misconduct bordering on sexual harassment and threatening students to have sex with him in exchange for marks.
According to the statement, Igbafen was found culpable by the university’s investigative panel. A relative of one of the victims had threatened to take the institution to the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission ICPC, if Igbafen wasn’t prosecuted.
The statement read: “On receipt of the petition, the university management asked for his comments. His response was found unsatisfactory. He was therefore arraigned before the SSDC. As due process demands, he has been suspended from the university, pending the determination of the allegation levelled against him.
“He is therefore not allowed to participate or involved in any university duties or functions except those related to SSDC during the period of his suspension.”
On his part, Igbafen said the suspension is a blackmail by the vice chancellor, and an attempt to destabilise the union.
Speaking to The Nation newspaper, he said: “It is a grand plot that will fail. The VC is desperate because he has so many things to hide. He is looking for a weak ASUU to manipulate. That petition was written against two of us when I was a Lecturer II in 2011. I answered it that my hands are clean. Is that why he is denying me of my promotion?
“All these things are plot to destabilise the union. It is cheap blackmail. The VC is desperate to decimate ASUU. I know he is behind all the petitions against me.”