An academic pressure group, Ivory Tower Watchdog, has warned lecturers in Nigerian universities to beware of female students, alerting them to “a new trend of students’ blackmailing teachers for an automatic pass in tough courses”
In a statement signed by its National Secretary, Comrade Salihu Adaji, the group said the warning became necessary after “a study of seven cases of alleged sexual assault leveled against lecturers revealed four to be calculated blackmail capitalizing on close affinity with the lecturers.
“We condemn in unequivocal terms sexual harassment of female students by lecturers. Sex for the mark is reprehensible and a grave assault on the integrity of the academic community. Those guilty should be punished appropriately.
“We, however, discovered a trend of deliberate blackmail of unsuspecting lecturers who in their departments had insisted on students genuinely passing their courses. We have cases of students deliberately setting up lecturers and scandalizing them if they failed to cooperate.
“This was the case of Prof Adeniji of the University of Abuja. Contrary to inaccurate reporting, the recent sex story is not a case of sex for a mark or sexual harassment. The said student has no carryover in the Professor’s course and she passed her last two courses taken by the professor.
“Our investigation showed that the student, banking on her closeness, asked the professor to prevail on other lecturers to help her in clearing about 11 courses of other lecturers that she’s carrying over. The refusal of Adeniji led to the set up that was widely reported as sex for the mark”, the group stated.
The group stated that similar incident of blackmail was discovered in the case of sexual assault leveled against a lecturer of Ekiti State University, adding “this is why we are warning our colleagues nationwide.
“Review your relationship with female students in your departments. Be watchful. You can be set up. Learn from others by severing all unofficial contacts with female students”, the statement concluded.
