The University of Lagos (UNILAG) and Foursquare Gospel Church have suspended Dr Boniface Igbeneghu, following the publication of a documentary exposing sexual harassment of students by lecturers.
Dr. Igbeneghu, a senior lecturer in the Faculty of Arts, UNILAG, and former sub-dean, was caught on camera trying to force himself on a journalist who posed as a 17-year-old admission seeker.
The lecturer was the head pastor of a Foursquare Gospel Church in Lagos.
UNILAG vice-chancellor, Prof. Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, confirmed to Premium Times on Monday afternoon that the lecturer had been suspended indefinitely.
“A panel will be set up to investigate the issue,” he said.
BBC Africa Eye had said that UNILAG authorities dissociated itself from the lecturer’s actions, stating that it has zero-tolerance policy on sexual harassment.
It also said that the institution refused to comment on the alleged ‘cold room’ which Igbeneghu revealed was a location inside the UNILAG Staff club where lecturers take female students for sexual pleasures.
However, the Foursquare Gospel Church has also asked Igbeneghu to step down from all ministerial assignments.
The church’s national secretary, Ikechukwu Ugbaja, in a statement on Monday, said appropriate measures would be taken against Igbeneghu.
“The general public is hereby informed that as holiness and Bible-believing church, we do not condone such heinous and unscriptural acts among our ministers. We totally dissociate ourselves from the purported conduct of Dr Igbeneghu and promise to take appropriate measures as soon as the ongoing investigation is concluded,” the statement said.
“Meanwhile, the pastor in question has been asked to step down from all ministerial assignments.”
