Prof. Cyril Ndifon Rape Set-up & the Role of Cross River State Online Journalists —Joseph Odok

Joseph Odok|3 April 2016|6:28am

It is so amazing that the social media can fall so cheap by compromising with powerful figures that have left Cross River State as poor as it is today. This is evident in the collaboration of our politicians with Cross River State media personalities and journalists to perpetrate falsehood and commercialize media for pecuniary gains. The calculations is to steal and share with media men/women to cover all traces; sacrificing our state at the altar of propaganda.

There are bewildering revelations on the part played by Cross River Watch in the Professor Cyril Ndifon's rape blackmail. It is worthy of note that the court that convicted and sentenced Professor Ndifon is no other court than the court of opinions sustained by Cross River State Online journalists. No wonder the boast by Agba Jalingo that Professor Ndifon is a serial rapist. The conviction of Ndifon is arrived at solely in a social media court with Agba Jalingo as the Chief Judge.

It is my submission that the allegations of rape of  Sinemobong Ekong Nkang by against Professor Ndifon was a calculated blackmail. It is in my assessment that the entire story was a pure case of a blackmail arrived at in connivance with some paid online blog.

The story began with a petition for rape by the alleged victim. The victim was carried by a good Samaritan to the police clinic. Rumours have it that the said good Samaritan may be a senior lecturer from the Faculty of Law of the University of Calabar. The benefit for such a blackmail is to scuttle Professor Ndifon out of office and then take over —a pure power game garbed in a blackmail.

On the day the police got the petition, they immediately swung into investigation and a medical report was obtained. The medical report was made reference to in the affidavit on oath by Sinemobong Ekong Nkang but was never made open to anybody knowing that it was adverse to their blackmail interest.

Come to think of it why did Sinemobong Nkang Ekong clone the medical report till date? The medical report only came out 7 months after it was obtained.
When the alleged victim of rape became defeated, she petitioned to SSS who swung into immediate action. But their investigation was stalled by the refusal of the alleged victim of rape to produce the medical report and the good Samaritan who refused all invitation by the SSS claiming that he is not a compellable witness as he merely assisted an alleged victim of rape to the hospital.

At this point, the girl refused to give up, she petitioned to Inspector General of Police (IGP) alleging compromise by the police. Yet the girl refused to make available the medical report that had already implicated her. It is worthy of mention that at all level of investigation only female police officers were employed in the process of investigation. They were poised to defend their own but the girl's story and the contradictions in the story kept them helpless at each move.

Having failed at this level, the blackmailers took to involving the ICPC, who invited Professor Ndifon for questioning. But before the ICPC could act the medical report that was once cloned was now made available through the help of the police; this further spoilt her case. The only point the girl could sustain her blackmail was through social media using Cross River Watch as its hatchet point. The blackmail job was perfectly executed and the cooked story went virile through the instrumentality of  Cross River Watch. Agba Jalingo for instance gloried in the story and even alleged that he has evidence that can establish Professor Ndifon as a serial rapist.

The point here is why should an independent journalist be seen to be keeping such information bothering on a serious crime like rape if he can establish it? I challenge him to safe his name by coming clear with all necessary evidence to establish his allegations that Professor Ndifon is a serial rapist. The onus of proof lies on he who alleges and an accused remains innocent until proven guilty.

If I may ask, why has the girl not began any case against Professor Ndifon in any competent court of law? For about 7 months now the case of rape has not been charged in any court rather than the court of social media. In case there is any case lying in any court, I challenge anybody to make known the suit number of the case file. As it is now it is only Professor Ndifon that has instituted a case against the University of Calabar for wrongful suspension. In the course of blackmail, ICPC was invited by the girl in the course of investigation. But is it duty of ICPC to investigate allegations of rape? At this point of massive failure in proving the case, the next to be invited may be Boy's Scout or student union government.

Some people have accused me for commenting on a case that is before a court of law, but we must learn to distinguish issues, my comment(s) has been on the defamation of the character of Professor Ndifon and the allegations of rape against him. To this moment no case lies before any court of law on this subject the alleged rape by Professor Ndifon or the defamation of his character. But come to think of it why will those who used the social media to criminalize Professor Ndifon be the first to talk about subjudice? The guilty are really afraid. Why the increasing call on Prof Ndifon for a settlement out of court?

An analysis of the contradictions in the story shows blackmail borne out of a power struggle. Taking for granted other matters, what will independent minds say about the result of medical examination? Let's be scientific and use empirical facts; from the medical report there was no lacerations, you know how fragile the vagina is that there is almost an impossibility of sex between adults without lacerations. Read the story side by side the medical report that was independently gotten by the girl herself
Let Cross Riverians stop believing any story under the bias of gender to thwart the truth. First analyse the entire story and shift out the the falsehood.

Firstly, the girl is not a type of person you can group into the shy person that could be said to be intimidated. She told her story of rape and told it thoroughly in severally places as the whole thing is displaying. At first she had sex twice, maybe after recovering from the shock she remembered that it was just once and not twice. Could she have also forgotten the number of times Professor Ndifon raped her? This is besides other contradictory statements.

Secondly, after the incident the girl got so rewarded and became the class representative who writes examinations  with a bottle of soft drink besides her. The girl in question is not dependable, she has a record of violating hostel rules and sleeping and having sex with her boyfriend Teres in male hostel. She has graduated from being a darling of the Staff Adviser to the darling of the acting Dean Faculty of Law. Presently her grades have jumped from from a poor student to an A student. I feel ashamed when people defend a girl whose is continually indicted even by her own medical report. I beg you rather advice her to stop playing games and using sex as a bet to blow her grades.

Morality, morality, o' morality! Who is preaching or talking about morality in Faculty of Law, and even if morality is to be talked about must it be talked with regards to the said girl? For a girl who is now the property of the faculty? The list is endless: former HOD, Acting Dean, Staff Adviser & her male class mate, Peres. Ask the students from Faculty of Law and hear more about the said girl. Faculty of Law need to be looked into and purged.

The girl calculated and knew the benefit of the blackmail; if negotiations were not finalised before the premeditated story, the benefits are manifold; from nothing to Class Representative, from poor grades to an A student. Sure blackmail pays. We must now get our eyes open to those that get paid to sell the conscience of the state. No wonder a social commentator of a class, Princewill Odidi, opined that there is no news in Cross River State at this present time. What kills the true news in Cross River State is the purchase of our social media by the government of the day. As it stands today only Negroidhaven.org publishes unadulterated news and steps are made to buy the news blog as done with Cross River Watch.

But come to think of it, why the obvious silence of our Cross River State online journalists in matters of governance despite obvious abuses of power and mismanagement of funds? We must rise to say the truth and always defend the truth. Where were our online journalists and media men/women when the state was completely sold by a cabal in government? Over 400 billion loaned yet no tangible result.

Joseph Odok
Is a University Don and Social Media Change Agent