31st January, 2020
Policemen in three trucks have reportedly taken over the Federal Institute of Industrial Research Oshodi, Lagos to prevent staff from continuing the protest over the certificate of the Acting Director-General, Dr Chima Igwe.
The staff of the institute had been protesting for two weeks to demand Igwe make a public presentation of the doctoral degree he claimed to have acquired from Universite d’Abomey-Calavi, Benin Republic, or resign from the position as Acting DG.
The police and the Department of State Services had summoned and interrogated union leaders over their insistence on the certificate saga but the staff insisted Igwe must resign and accused the Minister of Science and Technology, Ogbonnaya Onu, of double standards and supporting the 57-year-old.
Igwe claimed he completed the program 18 years ago but the Universite d’Abomey-Calav stated that he started the programme but did not complete it.
Igwe is under investigation by the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission.