Cyril Ndifon, the suspended dean at the University of Calabar (UNICAL), has filed his no-case submission before the federal high court, Abuja, amid his sexual assault trial.
Ndifon has been in the public eye over sexual assault charges, alongside his co-defendant Sunny Anyanwu.
The academic was removed as a UNICAL dean in August 2023 for using his office to abuse female students.
A UNICAL investigative panel found the professor, who has since been replaced, guilty.
The ICPC similarly investigated the professor’s alleged gross misconduct and got him arrested on October 4.
The commission arraigned the senior lecturer on a four-count charge bordering on sexual harassment, official corruption, and abuse of office.
Ndifon was re-arraigned on January 25 with Anyanwu, his associate who allegedly threatened a witness during the pendency of the case.
Both defendants were later granted bail on February 9 pending their trial.
On February 14, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), concluded its case against Ndifon.
The defence team led by Joe Agi, a senior advocate of Nigeria, also said the ex-dean was ready to file a no-case submission.
In the professor’s no-case submission filed by AGi, the court on Thursday heard that the 22-year-old star witness — identified as TKJ — was in a “love” relationship with Ndifion as shown in their chats.
Agi told James Omotosho, the presiding judge, that the text messages between his client and TKJ were that of “emotional feelings between two lovers and did not in any way put either of the party under fear”.
He said the “unwholesome and illegal intrusion” of ICPC into the phone of Ndifon revealed the private conversations between the defendant and the witness, which has negatively impacted their characters and persons.
Agi said there is inconvertible evidence that his client was arrested and investigated on an alleged offence committed in the year 2015 when he later proved to the commission that he had been cleared of the alleged offence by the police.
“The Commission who at this time was desperate to create, search for any conceivable crime seized the telephone of the 1st Defendant who was under their custody and without obtaining an order of the court as required by Section 45 of the Cyber Crime Act in breach of his fundamental right as guaranteed by Section 37 of the 1999 Constitution as amended broke into his phone and started going through his phone in search for an offense and without respect to his right to privacy,” he said.
“Then on seeing nude and pornographic pictures in the 1st Defendant’s phone jumped at the Cybercrime Act to investigate the so-called offence of cyberstalking. This is not only exposing them as an ungovernable monster but like a knight— errant that goes about looking for skirmishes and battles all over the Mace. My Lord if this is allowed to stand then we are all in trouble. This cannot be the intention of the lawmakers or the law.”
Agi urged the court to decline jurisdiction on the case because, under cross-examination, Chima (PW1), asserted that they received several oral and written complaints but never mentioned TKJ as one of such complainants.
He added that TKJ was not listed as a witness in the originating charge but “surfaced after the amended charge was filed”.
The trial was adjourned till February 27 for the adoption of written addresses by parties on the no-case submission.
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