Dr Boniface Igbeneghu. Image credit: BBC Africa

Dr. Boniface Igbeneghu, a UNILAG lecturer, Faculty of Arts and the head pastor of a Foursquare Gospel Church in Lagos, has been indicted in a sexual scandal.

Igbeneghu was exposed in a documentary released on Monday by BBC Africa Eye’s targeted at lecturers in some West African universities harassing their students for sex in exchange for grades/marks.

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In the 13-minutes secret filming, the lecturer revealed how his colleagues tossed and passed around UNILAG female students for sex.

He disclosed further how his colleagues patronised UNILAG Staff club ‘Cold room’ to commit series of atrocities on female students.

After gathering dozens of testimonies, BBC Africa Eye sent undercover journalists posing as students inside the University of Lagos and the University of Ghana.

It was disclosed that female reporters were sexually harassed, propositioned and put under pressure by senior lecturers at the institutions – all the while wearing secret cameras in a 13-minutes video documentary released.

The undercover journalist posed as a 17-year-old student who wanted an admission at the University of Lagos.

The “student” endured a couple of sexual harassment from Dr. Igbeneghu.

Igbeneghu, who invited the teenager to his office for a number of tutorials, subsequently began to have inappropriate conversations with her.

On their first meeting, he commented on her appearance.

“Do you know that you are a very beautiful girl,” he asked her.

“Do you know that I am a pastor and I’m in my fifties. What will shock you is that even at my age now, if I want a girl of your age – a 17-year-old, all I need is to sweet tongue her and put some money in her hand and I’ll get her,” Igbeneghu said to her on camera.

In a Twitter post by its official handle, @BBCAfricaEye, it said; “for the past year, BBC Africa Eye has been secretly investigating sexual harassment by lecturers at West Africa’s most prestigious universities.

According to the BBC Africa Eye Reporter, @kikimordi who conducted the investigations, she revealed that the investigation was carried out due to the clamour to expose these bad lecturers.

She said: “Hundreds of you asked us to do this investigation. We heard your call #SexForGrades”

Kiki Mordi, who said she was once a victim of sexual harassment, revealed what happens behind closed doors at some of the region’s most prestigious universities in the video documentary.

Over the years, there have been issues of female students being harassed for sex in return for marks in Nigerian Universities.

It should be recalled that last year, a Professor in the English Department of the university was also alleged of sexual harassment by a student.

former lecturer of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) Prof. Richard Iyiola Akindele was reportedly sentenced to two years in prison for sexually molesting female students.

Concise News had reported that the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Prof. Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, emphasised the need for management of universities across the country to intensify efforts in ensuring effective measures to tackle sexual harassment.

Ogundipe in an interview with NAN on Saturday in Lagos, said the issue of ‘sex for marks’ in the country’s university system remains a hydra-headed monster that must be tackled without further delay.

“Recall that some foremost universities in the country had been in the news in the recent past, over cases of sexual harassment by lecturers.

“Some of the lecturers involved had, however, been found guilty based on established evidence provided by their victims before probe panels, which eventually led to their outright dismissal.

“The University of Lagos had zero tolerance for the ugly trend and would do all it could to ensure that such standard was not compromised.

“As heads of these universities, I think there is need to step up efforts in ensuring that this unhealthy development is stamped out from the system.

“I think these are some of the issues we should continue to highlight each time we meet as heads of universities.

“This is because to the best of my knowledge, there is no vice-chancellor in any Nigerian university that will encourage such act.

“Honestly speaking, I do not see any reason for any lecturer to harass students. They ordinarily should be their guardians or mentors.

“I see no reason why lecturers should give students conditions before they could pass their examination or get their results. And this is something that I have been talking about, students should start recording what goes on between them and lecturers.

“In UNILAG, we have a channel through which we get information from these students, who are bold enough to come out and report such. The counselling unit are up to the task in getting them speak and they will transmit same to us. Like I said, what we need is for the students to speak up,” he said.

According to him, he has always condemned the unhealthy development at various fora, stressing the trend is not good for the growth of the system.