The Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria has sacked 15 of its staff and reduced the rank of one lecturer over offences that range from sexual harassment to corruption and negligence of duty. A list containing the names and personnel number of the affected staff exclusively obtained by Daily Trust Thursday showed that the affected staff were from different faculties and departments of the institution. 

When contacted the Director of ABU’s Public Affairs, Dr. Sama’ila Shehu, confirmed the authenticity of the list saying that the “action is a testimony to the fact that ABU doesn’t hesitate in taking disciplinary action against any erring staff or student.” According to the document, the dismissal of the erring staff was approved by the university’s Governing Council during its two separate meetings. 

Our correspondent reports that a lecturer from the department of Plant Science was sacked over sexual harassment of a female staff, while three lecturers from the Sociology department were sacked over alteration of result, extortion of students and illegal allocation of grades. Two staff from Bursary unit were sacked over diversion of money and fraudulent reinstatement of staff on payroll. 

Similarly, a lecturer in Political Science department was demoted over loss of students’ scripts, the offence that the university defined as “negligence of duty”. Findings by Daily Trust revealed that the job of many lecturers is on the line, as investigation into their involvement in sexual harassment and other offences is still ongoing.