On July 27, 2026, Paul University, Awka, Anambra State, suspended a practical biology technologist, Cornelius Eze, after a complaint lodged on July 14 accused him of serious sexual misconduct. A week earlier, on July 18, Kogi State Polytechnic terminated the appointment of lecturer Mukhtar Muhammed over allegations that he sexually molested a student. The institutions called it discipline. The people at the bottom call it survival.
No fewer than 60 lecturers across Nigerian universities and polytechnics have been suspended, dismissed, had their appointments terminated or been prosecuted over allegations of sexual harassment and other forms of sexual misconduct in the last five years. That number comes from an analysis of disciplinary actions publicly announced by tertiary institutions between 2021 and July 2026. The tally is ugly, but the machinery behind it is familiar: students trapped inside institutions where lecturers hold power over grades, access and futures, while administrators scramble to preserve the image of order.
Who Holds the Power
Kogi State Polytechnic said its decision to terminate Mukhtar Muhammed was part of efforts to maintain discipline and protect students from abuse. It was not the first time the institution reached for that language. In December 2025, it also terminated the appointment of Abutu Thompson after he was allegedly found guilty of sexually harassing and victimising a female student in the Department of Computer Science. The pattern is plain. The institution acts only after the damage has already been done, and only when the scandal becomes too loud to ignore.
Other campuses have followed the same script. In April 2024, the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, suspended Mfonobong Udoudom indefinitely after a viral video allegedly showed him sexually harassing a female student. In April 2025, the Governing Council of the Lagos State University of Science and Technology dismissed three lecturers over allegations of sexual harassment following disciplinary proceedings. Barely 10 days later, the Governing Council of Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi, dismissed Dr. Usman Aliyu after finding him guilty of sexually harassing a married postgraduate student who said he demanded sexual favours and threatened her academic progress.
The hierarchy is built into the system. Lecturers control marks. Governing councils control careers. Students are told to trust the same institutions that often move only when the scandal has already broken into public view.
Who Pays the Price
The article says the latest sanctions were only a fraction of the disciplinary measures taken over the past five years. In February 2021, the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, suspended Dr Chigozie Odum over allegations of sexual misconduct. Four months later, the Federal University, Oye-Ekiti, suspended a lecturer in its Department of Media and Theatre Arts over similar allegations, while the University of Lagos dismissed two lecturers in June 2021 for sexual misconduct. The University of Port Harcourt dismissed a lecturer in August 2021 over sexual misconduct.
In June 2021, the Vice-Chancellor of Akwa Ibom State University, Prof. Nse Essien, disclosed that the institution had sacked about 14 lecturers for engaging in the sexual molestation and abuse of female students. In October 2021, the Federal Polytechnic, Bauchi, dismissed two lecturers from its Departments of Nutrition/Dietetics and General Studies over sexual misconduct. Also in 2021, Ignatius Ajuru University of Education dismissed a lecturer for impregnating a female student, while Kwara State University, Malete, sacked a lecturer in December for sexually harassing a student in the Department of Pure and Applied Sciences.
The burden lands on students first. They face intimidation, academic repercussions and fear of victimisation, the same pressures that keep many from reporting abuse in the first place. A 2018 survey by the World Bank Group found that about 70 per cent of female graduates from tertiary institutions in Nigeria experienced one form of sexual harassment during their academic journey. The report identified lecturers and fellow students as the major perpetrators. Many victims said they stayed silent because they did not trust the reporting systems.
What They Call Reform
In 2022, the sanctions kept rolling. Elechi Amadi Polytechnic in Rivers State dismissed a lecturer over allegations of sexually harassing a female student. Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, launched an investigation into allegations involving a professor in its Department of Linguistics and African Studies, bringing to two the number of professors at the institution who had faced similar allegations within a few years. In June 2022, the then Vice-Chancellor of the University of Abuja, Prof. Abdul-Raheed Na’allah, announced the dismissal of two professors over sexual misconduct, describing the decision as part of efforts to uphold the university’s ethical standards.
The state and its institutions keep reaching for the language of standards, discipline and ethics. Yet criminal prosecution remains uncommon, according to education rights advocates, which means many perpetrators face administrative punishment while the broader structure stays intact. In 2023, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission arraigned Dr Balogun Olaniran of Tai Solarin University of Education over allegations that he demanded sexual gratification from a female student to alter her examination results. In May 2023, Ambrose Alli University dismissed a lecturer after its Staff Disciplinary Committee found him guilty of misconduct. According to the institution’s Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Asomwan Adagbonyin, the lecturer admitted making advances to the student and even visited her church to seek forgiveness. In July 2023, Na’allah said the University of Abuja had dismissed two additional lecturers over allegations of sexual harassment.
The public pressure hasn’t stopped. In August 2023, the University of Calabar suspended its then Dean of the Faculty of Law, Prof. Cyril Ndifon, over allegations of sexual harassment. The case later became one of the country’s most prominent campus sexual harassment cases after criminal proceedings were initiated against him. Barely a month later, the University of Lagos suspended Kadri Babalola over allegations that he raped a 21-year-old student. In October 2023, the Federal College of Forestry in Plateau State suspended four lecturers over allegations of sexually harassing female students.
A student of the University of Lagos recently approached the court after accusing a lecturer of sexual harassment, and that has reopened the question of access to justice for survivors. It also exposes the limits of the current setup: institutions protect their reputations, lawmakers propose tougher penalties, and students are still left to fight through the courts and the campus bureaucracy.
In 2025, lawmakers in the House of Representatives introduced a bill seeking stiffer punishment for lecturers found guilty of sexually harassing students. The proposal would strengthen existing legal provisions by prescribing tougher penalties and compelling tertiary institutions to establish transparent reporting and investigative procedures. It followed years of advocacy after the Sexual Harassment in Tertiary Educational Institutions Prohibition Bill, which had generated widespread public support, failed to become law despite receiving legislative approval in previous assemblies.
The reform push sounds tidy on paper. The reality is messier. Ayodamola Oluwatoyin of Reform Education Nigeria said: “The President signing the bill will be a game-changer. We need to make schools safe for our students. The most unfortunate part of the issue is that some of these students, even when harassed, are scared to come out in the open for fear of victimisation and other issues.” Nafisa Atiku-Adejuwon, former Programme Manager, Gender Justice at the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Foundation, said: “The response system has to be survivor-centred and holistic; mental and physical health concerns must be taken seriously. The response system shouldn’t be created to make the university look good; it should be to take care of the survivors.” She added that universities must build trust with students by guaranteeing confidentiality, protecting complainants from retaliation and ensuring that allegations are investigated promptly and transparently.
That’s the real measure here. Not the polished statements from councils and vice-chancellors. Not the bill waiting on presidential approval. The measure is whether students can move through these institutions without being preyed on by the people who grade them, govern them and then congratulate themselves for cleaning up the mess after the fact.