He said he would support the law as long as it was enacted according to the right procedure.

Buhari’s support for stricter laws was made known on Friday by his media aide, Malam Garba Shehu, in a statement in Abuja.

Buhari made the call while reacting to the recent high profile revelation of sexual abuse cases in institutions of higher learning in the country.

He expressed delight that the incident, which exposed through under-cover news reporting at the University of Lagos, had spurred an amendment to the nation’s laws regarding the issue in the National Assembly.

President Buhari said such proposed amendments passed by the Legislature will get his support “as long as they conform to the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

He added:  “The country must do more to address incidents of sexual violence, sexual abuses in our schools, discrimination, human trafficking and cultural practices that violate women’s rights.”

He urged law enforcement agencies and school administrators to take up such cases with every seriousness and ensure that perpetrators face the consequences of their actions.

“Survivors and their families must avoid cover up. They should be encouraged to come forth and report cases of abuses wherever and whenever they occur,” the President demanded.

Source:  NAN

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They were both exposed in a documentary on sexual harassment released by the BBC Africa Eye on Monday.

The two lecturers have been suspended in the wake of the exposure.

The Principal Assistant Registrar, Communication Unit of UNILAG, Mr. Taiwo Oloyede, who announced the setting up of the panel on Wednesday said it is headed by a Professor of Law and Dean of the Faculty of Law, UNILAG, Ayodele Atsenuwa.

The statement by Oloyede reads:  “The Panel will probe into the allegations of sexual harassment levelled against Dr. Boniface Igbeneghu of the Department of European Languages and Integrated Studies, Faculty of Arts and Dr. Samuel Oladipo of the Department of Economics, Faculty of Social Sciences as well as other related cases.

“As previously announced in the University’s Press Release dated Monday, October 7, 2019, Dr. Samuel Oladipo who was featured in the full version of the BBC broadcast, has been suspended from work with immediate effect and barred from the University academic areas until conclusion of the Panel’s assignment.

“Students and members of staff who have relevant information are encouraged to come forward. Their protection is assured. We firmly reassure all our students, staff, alumni, parents and guardians that this matter will be tackled with every sense of responsibility, and the seriousness it deserves. The whole process will be transparent and appropriate sanctions will be meted out to anyone found culpable.”

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The bill was sponsored by Senator Ovie Omo-Agege (APC, Delta Central) in October 2016 and passed by the 8th Senate.

According to the bill, an educator will be “guilty of committing an offence of sexual harassment against a student if he/she has sexual intercourse with a student who is less than 18 years of age; has sexual intercourse with a student or demands sex from a student or a prospective student as a condition to study in an institution, or as a condition to the giving of a passing grade or the granting of honour and scholarships.”

The bill prescribes that: “Any person who commits any of the acts specified in Section 4 of this Act is guilty of an offence and shall, on conviction, be sentenced to imprisonment of up to five years, but not less than two years without any option of a fine.”

The bill, however, suffered a major setback as it was not given Presidential assent after its passage by the 8th Senate.

Some lawmakers, who were against its passage, had argued that it should be more inclusive and not discriminatory or targeted only at university lecturers.

The reintroduced bill which prescribes the five years jail term is sponsored by the Deputy President of the Senate, Ovie Omo-Agege.

The seven bills that scaled first reading include: Federal Polytechnic Daura Act (Amendment) Bill, 2019, sponsored by Senator Babba Kaita Ahmad (APC, Katsina North); Modibo Adama University of Technology Bill, 2019, by Senator Aishatu Ahmed Dahiru (Adamawa Central); National Rice Development Council Bill, 2019, sponsored by Senator Muhammad Enagi Bima (APC, Niger South), and National Health Insurance Commission Bill, 2019, sponsored by Senator Yahaya Oloriegbe (APC, Kwara Central).

Others are: National Institute for Business Studies, Nnewi, Anambra State Bill, 2019, by Senator Ifeanyi Patrick Ubah (YPP, Anambra South), and Federal College of Education Monguno, Borno State Bill, 2019, sponsored by Senator Abubakar Kyari (APC, Borno North).

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Describing the experience as unpleasant, she said it was time to speak up against the crime.

Mrs. Fayemi made the revelation on Monday at the premiere of a documentary showing randy lecturers in universities in Nigeria and Ghana.

The documentary is #SexForGrade.

The University of Lagos lecturer, Boniface Igbeneghu, is one of those exposed in the documentary.

He was exposed as having sexually harassed Kiki Modi, who posed as an “admission seeker.”

Said Fayemi:  “I cried because what this young women have experience is the story of many of us who passed through higher institution in this country,” she said.

“I was educated here in Nigeria and I too was a victim of sexual harassment during my university days. I was luckier than these victims. It didn’t go that far but it was extremely unpleasant and of course back in the days when all these things happened you can’t tell anyone because if you do even up till now people ask you to keep shut.

“You know people don’t talk about things like this. I was watching the documentary and there were three words that came to me, one is voice, it is time to speak up and speak out and for those who do we need to stand with them and stand by them and not silence them because the culture of silence has endured enough.

“Another word that came to me was accountability, we need to be accountable whether there are parents, guidance or teachers or leaders in any form through out the different section of society. We have to be accountable for the well being and health of the young people in our care, from when our children come to say mummy, uncle so so and so touched me and instead of asking further to find out what’s its all about, we should act.

“There has to be accountability and the third thing that came to mind was justice, justice for victim or I choose to call them survivors and so those of us who have worked in the women’s whether at international level or Africa or national air in Nigeria, we know that we have many law and policies in place that are supposed to guard against things such as this but this law sometimes means very little because there is inadequate political.”

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