A senior lecturer, Dr. Usman Aliyu, was fired by the governing council of Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University in Bauchi due to claims of sexual harassment against Mrs. Kamila Aliyu, a married postgraduate student.
After the 96th regular council meeting on April 11, 2025, the decision was made public in the university’s official newsletter, ATBU Herald (Vol. 39 No. 5, April 22).
The Governing Council authorized Dr. Aliyu’s termination on the basis of the Senior Staff Disciplinary Committee’s conclusions, which found the lecturer to have engaged in wrongdoing, according to the publication our correspondent was able to receive on Thursday.
“The council has subsequently approved your dismissal from the services of the university with immediate effect, following the report of the Senior Staff Disciplinary Committee that found you guilty of an indecent relationship involving a student of the university, Mrs. Kamila Rufai Aliyu of the Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Engineering Technology,” read the letter of dismissal.
In her petition to the university last year, Mrs. Aliyu accused Dr. Aliyu of sexual harassment and said that he threatened to prevent her from advancing academically if she did not comply with his requests.
In response to the allegations, Dr Aliyu filed a defamation lawsuit against the student, the department, and the university.
Despite the lawsuit, the university proceeded with internal investigations.
The council’s action was based on “Chapter 3, Item F, I (o) of the Senior Staff Conditions of Service of the University,” as noted in a statement released by the Senior Deputy Registrar, Senior Staff Establishment, Alhaji Abdullahi Suleiman.
The dismissal letter also instructed the lecturer to return all university property:
“You are hereby directed to hand over all the property of the university in your possession to the Head of Department and your identification card to the Chief Security Officer of the university,” the directive stated.
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