David-Chyddy Eleke in Awka
The Vice Chancellor of Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University, Anambra State, Prof. Kate Omenugha, has reacted to allegations trailing her administration after the sack of five lecturers of the university.
The management of the institution had last month announced the sack of five senior lecturers from various departments and faculties for various offences including sexual harassment and dereliction of duty.
Fighting back, some of the sacked lecturers opened what they described as a can of worms, citing corruption within the system and falling standards of education among other allegations.
But while reacting to this, the Vice Chancellor during a press conference on Thursday said the allegations were simply false, and meant as pushbacks by the sacked lecturers to derail the argument from the trending issue, which were the reasons for which they were sacked.
Omenugha while addressing journalists said, “I should be commended for doing what I did, and not vilification. Take things like sexual molestation of students by lecturers for example, these things have been happening under previous administrations and no one could stop them, but when I came in, I said no.
“You cannot be instilling fear in the students that are put under your care. If you molest my students sexually, I will rise up and fight you. So, no matter what they are saying, I must let them know that I will never tolerate it.
“No one can vilify me for sanctioning erring lecturers. By the way, I expect to be praised and commended for standing up to these lecturers than be vilified. No one can vilify me for sanctioning erring lecturers in this institution.”
She said that some sexually explicit videos of some of the lecturers have even trended on the internet, while many female students have come forward to testify to being turned into sex slaves by lecturers, all of which were proven beyond doubt, despite insistence by the lecturers involved that the videos were manufactured through AI technology.
Earlier, before the conference, the Public Relations Officer of the institution, Dr. Harrison Madubueze, took journalists on a tour of some of the projects of the Vice Chancellor, including those attracted to the institution from TETFUND and Friends of the University, a group formed by Omenugha.
While speaking to journalists, Omenugha reiterated that her plan for the university is not limited to just her tenure, but would be more enjoyed by future administration when her projects would have fully taken shape.
She also disclosed that for the sacked lecturers, a committee has been set up for them to appeal their sack and get further chance to prove the allegations against them as false.
