UNICAL Lecturer Assassinated, Kidnappers Demand N2bn From Another

Unknown gunmen on Thursday assassinated a lecturer in the Department of Accounting, University of Calabar, Dr. Emmanuel Igbeng, by the entrance to his house in Calabar, Cross River State.

The incident, which happened at about 8.30pm at Asuquo Abasi Street, off Uwanse Lane in the Calabar-South of the metropolis, has thrown the university community into mourning.

This is coming barely one week after Igbeng was awarded his Ph.D. degree at the 30th convocation ceremony of UNICAL.

An eyewitness, Magdalene Bassey, said the incident happened within split seconds as three gunmen came out from a waiting car while one of them shot the lecturer on his neck at close range.

She said, “They did not ask him any question, neither did they steal anything from his car. They just came and shot him in the neck before retreating to their waiting vehicle. They were three in number.”

Bassey said that Igbeng and a lady who was in the car with him were rushed to a nearby clinic where the lecturer was confirmed dead, but the lady was still alive.

Public Relations Officer of UNICAL, Mr. Effiong Eyo, described the murder as a shocking development, adding that it was sad losing a lecturer, let alone a young man.

“This is a great loss to us as an institution. This man struggled and just last Saturday he got his PhD degree. It is really sad for an institution to lose a man like that,” he said.

Meanwhile the kidnappers of a lecturer in the Department of Zoology, University of Calabar, Prof. Edet Ekpenyong, have made N2bn demand as ransom on the first contact with the family.

Ekpenyong was kidnapped in the early hours of March 10, 2017, while on his morning routine jogging exercise on campus.

According to a source, the kidnappers did not open contact with the family until after four days after when they demanded for N2bn as ransom.

The source told Southern City News on Friday that further negotiations dropped the ransom to N1bn, N200m, and N50m respectively.

“At least three persons have been arrested in connection with the kidnap. We are making progress and we hope that the professor will soon regain freedom. They initially demanded N2bn but later dropped it to N1bn. Just on Thursday, a negotiation was reached but in the early hours of Friday, I learned that the amount has dropped to N50m,” he said.

It was learnt that the university security agency is working with the police to ensure the safe release of the abducted don.

Speaking on the assassination of the lecturer, the state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Hafiz Inuwa, said investigations revealed that the gunmen hanged around the lecturer’s gate before his return.

He said, “I am aware of the killing and the police got there in good time. From the reports we got, the robbers were hanging around and opened fire on him immediately he came. The street, from what we discovered, was a lonely one. We have started investigation into the matter.”

On the kidnapped university don, Inuwa simply said, “We are making headway.”

Punch

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Beyond Sad! NOUN Female Lecturer Burnt To Death At Home

A senior lecturer with the National Open University of Nigeria, Dr Jumoke Odeyemi, has been killed in a fire that gutted her apartment in the Ketu area of Lagos State.

Odeyemi, who joined NOUN in 2009, had a doctorate in Adult and Continuing Education from the University of Ibadan, where she also had her bachelor’s degree in Language and Literacy and master’s degree in Education.

She reportedly got married four years ago and had yet to have a child with her United States-based husband.

Punch Metro gathered that she was asleep at her residence on Jemigbon Street, Apollo Estate, Ketu on Thursday when power was restored around 2am.

The victim had reportedly bought a 30-litre fuel the previous day which she kept in her balcony.

It was gathered that as soon as power was restored, there was a spark which reportedly caught a mosquito net in the two-bedroomed flat, leading to the fire.

Residents said they were awoken by the victim’s call for help, adding that in the twinkling of an eye, the fire reached the jerrycan of petrol and exploded.

The deployment of operatives of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency and more than five water trucks from two fire stations in the area did not save the don from death.

She was reportedly burnt beyond recognition and her remains deposited in a morgue.

When Punch Metro visited the house, smokes were emanating from Odeyemi’s apartment and were still billowing as of 4pm when our correspondent left the area.

The government had, however, closed down the building.

A tenant, who was spotted putting what remained of his property into a car, said he had just renewed his rent when the incident happened.

He said, “The fire started around 2am when power was restored. There was a spark in her meter. It was the spark that caught a mosquito net in her house which made the fire to spread.

“There was a lot of burglar-proof bars in her house and it was hard saving her.”

 A security guard on the estate explained that they got an alert about the fire and informed the Lagos State Fire Service.

He said, “The fire was just too intense. It raged for more than four hours.”

Residents said Odeyemi, who had been living on the estate for more than seven years, stayed alone in the house.

“Although her husband stays in the US, he visited her periodically. They have been married for four years without a child. She was a gentle and quiet person,” a resident, who did not identify himself, said.

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Kogi state university lecturer accused of brutalizing his girlfriend who is also a student of the school

According to twitter user, Bamidele who shared the story, the lecturer, Mr Edward, is having an affair with the student. He allegedly beat her up after he couldn't reach her when she left his place to go for a church meeting. Read what he wrote and see more photos after the cut..

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Any Lecturer Found Guilty of Making S*xual Advances at Students will be Jailed for 5 Years

Nigerian lecturers and teachers will face serious hard times as the Senate has passed a bill convicting any found to have s*xually harassed a student.

*Photo used for illustrative purpose*

 

The Senate on Thursday passed a bill to outlaw s*xual advances from lecturers to students of tertiary institutions in the country. This means that any lecturer found guilty to have broken the law, when passed, will risk a maximum five-year jail term or N5m fine or both.

 

The Senate also abolished the “consent” defence claim by s*xual assault and r*pe suspects, as contained in the criminal and penal codes.

 

The bill provides that, “An educator shall be guilty of committing an offence of s*xual harassment against a student, if he or she has sexual intercourse with a student who is less than 18 years of age, an imbecile or of generally low mental capacity or blind or deaf or otherwise physically challenged.”

 

The bill also states that it is an offence when such a person “has s*xual intercourse with a student or demands for s*x from a student or a prospective student as a condition to giving a grade or the granting of honours and scholarships, or the payment of stipend, allowance or other benefits, privileges or considerations.”

 

The bill further states, “An educator shall be guilty of committing an offence of sexual harassment against a student if he or she solicits sex from or makes sexual advances towards a student when the s*xual solicitation or sexual advances result in an intimidating, hostile or offensive environment for the student.

“Or directs or induces another person to commit any act of s*xual harassment under this bill, or cooperates in the commission of sexual harassment by another person without which it would not have been committed; grabs or hugs or rubs or strokes or touches or pinches the breasts or hair or lips or buttocks or any other sensual parts of the body of a student.”

 

“Or displays, gives or sends by hand or courier or electronic (means) or any other means, naked or sexually explicit pictures or videos or s*x related objects to a student.

“Or whistles or winks at a student or scream or exclaims or jokes or makes sexually complimentary or uncomplimentary remarks about a student’s physique.”

 

The “Bill for an Act to Make Provision for the Prohibition and Punishment of S*xual Harassment of Students by Educators in Tertiary Educational Institutions and for Related Matters” was sponsored by Senator Ovie Omo-Agege (Delta-Central).

 

Omo-Agege, while addressing journalists after the bill was passed, described it as a landmark for wives, daughters and women generally.

 

He said, “You will recall that immediately I get into the Senate, the first and major bill I sponsored was a bill to prohibit sexual harassment of students in our tertiary institutions. We had a reason for doing that.

“We did that because we felt that this menace had been there for so long and it had gone unchecked, but we have had our daughters, our sisters, our nieces and wives and students who have been harassed and nothing was done.”

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