#SexForGrades: Saraki Wants Buhari, National Assembly To Revisit Sexual Harassment Bill

#SexForGrades: Saraki Wants Buhari, National Assembly To Revisit Sexual Harassment Bill

Following the video exposing a lecturer making sexual demands from an admission seeker, a former Senate President, Bukola Saraki, has charged President Muhammadu Buhari and the National assembly to revisit the sexual harassment bill.

The bill: “Sexual Harassment in Tertiary Education Institution Prohibition Bill” was recommended during the leadership of Mr Saraki in the 8th Senate.

The bill prescribed, among others, a five-year jail term for any lecturer, educationist or person in a position of authority in any tertiary institution in Nigeria found guilty of sexual misconduct.

Mr Saraki made this call after a UNILAG lecturer was exposed in a video by BBC Africa where an undercover journalist, Kiki Mordi, disguised as a 17-year-old admission seeker.

The lecturer, Boniface Igbeneghu, is a former sub-dean of the Faculty of Art and head pastor of a local Foursquare Gospel Church.

It was earlier reported how the lecturer invited the student to his office and sexually harassed her.

Mr Igbeneghu also described the secret place where lecturers meet to “touch students breast” in a staff club of the university.

“They call the place cold room,” he said, adding that female students must pay to have good grades.

Several Nigerians online have called for proactive measures against the lecturer.

Reacting via his verified Twitter handle on Monday, Mr Saraki said: “As a father, I’m appalled by the actions of lecturers captured in the #SexForGrades exposé. We cannot allow this sort of deplorable behaviour to fester.”

“In 2016, my colleagues and I in the Eighth Senate passed the ‘Sexual Harassment in Tertiary Education Institution Prohibition Bill’ to prescribe a five-year jail term for any lecturer, educationist or person in a position of authority in any tertiary institution in Nigeria found guilty of such conduct.”

“I appeal to the Ninth Senate and President Muhammadu Buhari to revisit this Bill so that we can implement the institutional reforms necessary to safeguard our children in educational institutions in the country.

“I also urge the institutions to conduct robust investigations, not only on the accused but also for all other reports and complaints that come in.”

“We need to believe victims and make institutions safer for our students.”