Senate okays 14-year jail term for sexual harassment in schools

Senate

The Senate on Wednesday approved a bill prescribing up to 14 years imprisonment for educators convicted of sexually harassing students in tertiary institutions.

The move comes amid recurring reports of lecturers coercing students for grades, admission advantages and other academic favours—a problem widely documented in Nigerian universities over the years, including the 2019 sex-for-grades undercover investigation that exposed systemic abuse across some institutions.

The bill titled Sexual Harassment of Students (Prevention and Prohibition) Bill, 2025 (HB.1597), was presented for concurrence by the Senate Leader, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, APC, Ekiti Central.

Bamidele explained that the bill is designed to protect students from all forms of sexual misconduct and abuse within academic environments while providing clear legal frameworks for the enforcement and punishment of offenders. Punch