Uju Kennedy Ohanenye, Minister of Women Affairs has bowed to pressures coming from different quarters, most especially from the Women Activists over the weekend by tendering an unreserved apologies following her comment on the University of Calabar, UNICAL, Sexual Harassment Scandal.

In rendering an apology to Women Groups and folks, the Minister in a Press Statement wrote, “I wish to express my sincere apologies to those who were offended by my comments and actions regarding the sexual harassment scandal at the University of Calabar. This is extremely regrettable as my intentions were sincere and aligned with my consistent advocacy for the welfare of Nigerian women and the pursuit of justice.

“I stand for all Nigerian women and I stand for justice; and it is my hope that we can work together to actualise the dream of a country where women’s rights are respected and protected, and where our daughters feel safe in institutions of learning.

“ Whereas the United Nations’ definition of sexual harassment is ‘sexual advances, requests for sexual favours and verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature, whether implicitly or explicitly’.

“The Vice Chancellor of the University of Calabar, Florence Obi has said that the university management would investigate the allegations but that the students would be required to provide evidence to back up their complaints”, the statement reads.

The Minister had commented On the August 14th incident where female students of the Faculty of Law at UNICAL held a peaceful rally against the varsity’s Dean, Faculty of Law, Prof. Cyril Ndifon, whom they accused of harassing them.

Amidst the protest from the students and comments from various Human Rights groups, Kennedy-Ohaneye, made a controversial statement that since a female student admitted in a leaked phone conversation with the Minister that she was not raped, it means she was not sexually harassed.

This was the beginning of the Minister’s crisis with activists and several Women Groups who said that the Minister wasn’t gender sensitive and was not championing the cause of the women folks.

This for them meant that only rape (penetrative sexual intercourse) is the only form of sexual harassment recognised by the Minister.

Though Ndifon had denied the allegation, claiming that the protest was sponsored by lecturers in the faculty who did not like his style of leadership, although the varsity suspended him.

Another professor at the University of Uyo, Akwa Ibom, Sinem Abasi Ekong has narrated Ndifon allegedly raped her 20-year-old daughter in his office, alleging that Ndifon tore her daughter’s answer script during a test and subsequently used that to trick her daughter to go to his office, where he allegedly raped her twice.