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The management of Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike (MOUAU), Abia State, has cleared the Vice Chancellor, Prof Francis Otunta, of allegations of sexual harassment leveled against him by a female staff of the institution.
It disclosed that the allegation was a product of frustration and vendetta by the said staff because she was disciplined in line with the extant rules of the university.
In a statement signed by the Registrar and Secretary to Council, Mrs. Jacinta N. Ogwo-Agu, MOUAU declared that Prof Otunta “at no time or place did harass physically or sexually the said Dr Mbah as he has no need to do so”.
The university was reacting to allegations of sexual harassment by Dr Patricia Mbah as published in a national newspaper.
It explained that Dr Mbah alongside more than 100 other staff was recently “properly placed from her previous unmerited position in line with the approval given by the council at its 21st emergency meeting held from Monday, May 13 to Thursday May 16, 2019”
It also disclosed that Dr Mbah’s salary was “suspended after she traveled abroad and absconded from her duties without due authorisation. In line with the rules of the university, her immediate superiors reported her absence from duty”.
