Enugu Varsity Sacks 6 Staff Over Allegations Of Fraud, Harassment, Other Misconduct

The Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT) has dismissed six staff members for their alleged involvement in serious misconduct, including certificate forgery, sexual harassment, and academic fraud.

This decision was disclosed by the Vice Chancellor, Professor Aloysius-Michaels Okolie, during a press briefing on Wednesday in Agbani, Enugu State.

The terminations were based on resolutions reached during the 179th meeting of the University’s Governing Council, presided over by the Pro-Chancellor, Sir Chinyeaka Ohaa.

Professor Okolie detailed that the staff members were also implicated in other serious offences, such as extortion, result manipulation, holding dual full-time employment, fabricating fake transcripts, and misappropriating funds totaling N98,259,314.65.

The Vice Chancellor emphasized that the Governing Council is deeply concerned about the rising incidence of fraudulent activities among staff and has instructed the University Management to implement strict measures to curb these unethical practices.

“Council frowned at the spate of examination malpractices and directed Management to apply appropriate sanctions to concerned students, including their collaborators accordingly.

“Council also directed the Vice Chancellor to ensure immediate conclusion of disciplinary issues and to henceforth, adopt shame strategy in dealing with such matters,” he added.

While commending the state Governor, Barr. Peter Mbah, for providing needed equipment and support which ensured successful accreditation of Nursing Sciences and Faculty of Pharmaceutical Science programmes, and for availing funds for the purchase of equipment and resource materials for the proposed resource verification of three new programmmes (Public Health, Radiography and Human Nutrition and Dietetics), he assured that the Council is committed to implementing the disruptive innovative goals of the Governor.

This comes barely a month after the Vice-Chancellor, University of Abuja, Prof. Abdulrasheed Na’Allah, says the institution recently dismissed two academic staff members over allegations bordering on sexual misconduct.

The VC said, “We expelled two members of the academic community. We collaborated with NGOs most of whom pursue sexual harassment matters.

“Recently, there was a major conference on campus where students came out to expose some of the things that have been happening on campus.

“Right now as I speak to you, every University of Abuja student can report or comment on a lecturer via their student portal. Every student has this. They can comment on whether a lecturer is doing well in class, does he attend class, so it’s not only sexual harassment alone.”

The VC added that the varsity council also recently approved that students could assess their lecturers.

The issue of sexual harassment has been recurring in Nigerian institutions with a survey conducted in 2018 by the World Bank Group’s Women revealing that 70 per cent of female graduates from tertiary institutions in Nigeria were sexually harassed in school.

According to the report, the main perpetrators are classmates and lecturers.

Though the Senate had in 2021 passed a bill that randy lecturers should be subject to 21 years imprisonment, however, most of the lecturers indicted and found guilty after the bill was passed were simply sacked.