Randy lecturers in trouble as Senate okays 14-year jail term for s£xual harassment in schools
The Nigerian Senate has approved a bill prescribing a maximum of 14 years imprisonment for lecturers and other educators found guilty of sexually harassing students in tertiary institutions.
The legislation, titled Sexual Harassment of Students (Prevention and Prohibition) Bill, 2025, was presented for concurrence by Senate Leader, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele (APC, Ekiti Central), during Wednesday’s plenary session.
According to Bamidele, the bill seeks to protect students from sexual abuse and other forms of misconduct within academic environments, while establishing a clear legal framework to punish offenders and uphold ethical standards in higher education.
Under the new law, any educator convicted of offences listed in clauses 4(1)–(3) faces imprisonment of between five and 14 years without the option of a fine. Lesser offences under clauses 4(4)–(6) attract between two and five years jail term, also without an option of fine.
The bill also empowers victims of harassment to file civil actions for breach of fiduciary duty, while complaints may be lodged by students, relatives, or concerned individuals to the Police or Attorney-General, with copies sent to the institution’s Independent Sexual Harassment Prohibition Committee.
It further stipulates that consent will not serve as a defence where a lecturer-student relationship exists, except in cases of legal marriage.
During the debate, Senator Adams Oshiomhole (APC, Delta North) called for the bill’s expansion to cover workplace harassment. However, Deputy Senate President, Senator Barau Jibrin, who presided over the session, clarified that the bill had already passed in the House of Representatives and was only up for concurrence, noting that existing labour laws already cover workplace harassment.
The bill was subsequently adopted and passed for third reading.
The passage follows a history of sexual harassment scandals in Nigerian universities, with rights activists and gender-based violence campaigners repeatedly calling for stronger federal legislation to protect students and hold educators accountable.
