Posted on Jan 31, 2020

Policemen in three trucks have reportedly stormed the Federal Institute of Industrial Research Oshodi, Lagos.

The policemen were said to have taken over the premises to stop the ongoing protest by the workers against the controversial doctorate of the acting Director-General of FIIRO, Chima Igwe.

"Everybody is afraid as I speak with you. They are everywhere, heavily armed," a source said on the telephone.

FIIRO workers have been protesting for two weeks the refusal of the Ministry of Science and Technology to suspend Igwe for not presenting a certificate for a PhD he claimed he completed 18 years ago.

They accused the minister, Ogbonnaya Onu, of double standards and supporting the 57-year-old.

Igwe is under investigation by the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission.

Officials of the Universite d'Abomey-Calavi, Benin Republic, where Igwe claimed to have bagged the doctorate, had, however, told The PUNCH he started the programme but did not complete it.