No fewer than 50 lecturers across Nigerian public tertiary institutions have been indicted for sexual misconduct between April 2021 and April 2025, The PUNCH has found.
While some of the indicted academics, including professors, have been dismissed, others are currently facing disciplinary panels.
The cases span universities and polytechnics nationwide, highlighting the widespread nature of sexual harassment in Nigeria’s higher education system.
A 2018 survey by the World Bank Group’s Women, Business, and the Law project found that 70 per cent of female graduates in Nigeria had experienced sexual harassment in school, most commonly from classmates and lecturers.
Despite the Senate passing a bill in 2021 prescribing a 21-year jail term for lecturers guilty of sexual exploitation, the legislation has yet to be signed into law.
Most recently, on April 24, 2025, the Governing Council of Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi, dismissed a senior lecturer, Dr. Usman Aliyu, over allegations of sexually harassing a married postgraduate student, Mrs. Kamila Aliyu.
The university acted upon the findings of its Senior Staff Disciplinary Committee, which found the lecturer guilty of misconduct.
Mrs. Aliyu had petitioned the school in 2024, accusing Dr. Aliyu of coercion and threatening her academic progress.
Just 10 days earlier, on April 14, 2025, the Lagos State University of Science and Technology dismissed three lecturers, identified as Mr. Nurudeen Hassan (Mass Communication), Mr. Kareem Arigbabu, and Mr. Olayinka Uthman (both from the Department of Arts & Design), over sexual harassment.
According to a memo titled “Dismissal of Staff Members Due to Sexual Harassment Allegations,” the decision followed deliberations by the institution’s Governing Council under Section 5.5.2(v) of the University Senior Staff Conditions of Service.
Similarly, on November 14, 2024, the Federal University, Lokoja, announced the dismissal of four unnamed lecturers for sexual misconduct.