VIRAL VIDEO OF IGP IDRIS WAS DOCTORED - NIGERIAN POLICE INSISTS

The Nigeria Police Force has discredited a trending online video in which Ibrahim Idris, the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), was portrayed struggling to read a speech. The police in a tweet on Thursday, May 17, via the official Twitter handle, while responding to questions from a twitter user, Adekola Adewale, who asked about the authenticity of the video, said the clip was doctored.

Adewale asked: "I saw a video yesterday on social media about the Inspector General of Police not able to read his own speech. Some of us suspect it is a doctored video, can you clarify that please? Thank you.” The police replied: "Thank you for your question. Yes it was doctored." See the tweets below: 

 

This is how the police responded, via Twitter handle too:

 

 

The incident reportedly occurred on Monday, May 14, when the police chief visited Kano to commission the police technical intelligence unit in the state Idris was reportedly caught on video stuttering to pronounce ‘transmission’ and kept repeating it. However, the authenticity of the video is being doubted as Nigerians are saying it could have been doctored to embarrass the police chief. 

VIDEO: THE IGP CAN’T READ?

IGP Idris K. Ibrahim, 

The lawyer IGP having trouble reading script even when being guided closely? What is transmission, transmission, transmission......???

What is the problem with transmission, IGP Idris? 

This video shows the inspector-general of police (IGP) reading a written script.…
What is your take on this ?

SHAMEFUL: Kindly watch the Almighty Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris as he disagraces himself and his entire community…. Is this the man said to have a degree in law? 
Cc: @Gidi_Traffic @AJStreampic.twitter.com/jlBdmjuW5Z

FG ASKS ABUJA HIGH COURT TO REVOKE MELAYE’S BAIL OVER ALLEGED ASSASSINATION

The federal government has expressed dissatisfaction over Senator Dino Melaye’s bail by a high court in Lokoja, Kogi state 

- Melaye was said to have falsely incriminated the chief of staff to Governor Yahaya Bello, Edward Onoja David, in the said assassination attempt 

- The court earlier granted the senator a bail in the sum of N10 million The federal government, on Wednesday, May 16, asked a high court of the Federal Capital Territory sitting at Maitama to officially cancel the bail it granted to Senator Dino Melaye who is representing Kogi west senatorial district. 

It was learnt that Melaye was in the charge marked CR/106/18, alleged to had falsely incriminated the chief of staff to Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi state, Edward Onoja David, in the said assassination attempt on his life. 

Vanguard reports have it that the FG made its application in the absence of the embattled lawmaker in court for the commencement of hearing on a two-count criminal charge the office of the attorney general of the federation preferred against him.  

The government lawyer, Labaran Shuaibu, applied for Melaye’s bail to be revoked since he was not in court for his trial. Shuaibu said: “My lord the defendant was granted bail by this court and the case was adjourned till today for hearing, but he is not present in court. 

“The fact is that he was granted bail and he perfected the conditions and was released, whatever he may have done afterwards is not the business of this court. “In the circumstance my lord, we shall be applying for this court to order the surety to the defendant to come and show cause. 

Otherwise, we shall be compelled to ask that the bail be revoked.” He told the court that FG has lined up four witnesses that will testify against Melaye. The defence counsel, Ricky Tarfa, SAN, accused FG of concealing the true facts and circumstances of the case to the court. 

Tarfa said: “My lord I expected the prosecution to be more forthright by laying the facts bare before this court. “After the last proceeding, the defendant has been charged before different courts. One in Abuja granted him bail, but immediately he was released, he was taken on a stretcher to Lokoja the following day and charged before a Magistrate Court. 

“That court refused him bail. However, an application was made before a High Court in Lokoja which took into consideration the facts of the case and ordered that the defendant should be taken into Police custody for proper medical care pending the determination of his bail application. “His bail application before that court was adjourned till today for ruling.” 

He noted that the FG’s request for his client’s bail to be revoked would amount to persecution, insisting that such application could only be made when there is no explanation as to whereabouts of the defendant. 

Tarfa said he was ready to produce the high court order that remanded Melaye in police custody. After she had listened to both parties, trial Justice Olasumbo Goodluck agreed with the prosecution that accepting the narration from Melaye’s counsel would amount to receiving evidence from the bar. Stressing that the administration of criminal justice Act, ACJA, 2015, made provisions on how criminal trials should be conducted in the absence of a defendant, Justice Goodluck subsequently adjourned the case till Thursday. 

The court held: “The defence counsel is to take appropriate steps to explain the absence of the defendant.” Meanwhile, it was reported that the court granted Melaye a bail in the sum of N10 million. Justice Nasiru Ajanah, who granted Senator Melaye bail based on his health challenge, on Wednesday, May 16, gave a condition that the lawmaker must provide a surety in the like sum. The high court sitting in Lokoja, Kogi state, ordered that Dino Melaye representing Kogi west senatorial district in the National Assembly be moved to the National Hospital Abuja for further treatment. 

FACT CHECK: HAS THE FG IMPLEMENTED 14 OUT OF THE 15-POINT DEMAND BY JOHESU? NO!

If you may recall, the Minister of Health, Professor Isaac Adewole made claims that the Federal Government has implemented 14 of the 15-point demand that prompted the strike by the Joint Health Workers Unions (JOHESU).

The minister claimed that the strike JOHESU embarked upon since April 17 has not been called off because the union is asking for equal pay with doctors.

“But what JOHESU is asking for is parity with medical doctors which is not practicable nor acceptable to the Federal Government,” Adewole claimed.

The minister added that: “a cursory look at the salary tables in the health sector before and after independence till date have always reflected relativity. The 2014 salary adjustment for medical doctors was to correct the anomaly of 2009 and restore relativity.”

According to the International Center for Investigative Reporting (ICIR), these claims were fact-checked and found that 14 of the 15-point demand of JOHESU have truly not been implemented as claimed by the Minister. The Minister lied to Nigerians and the World. 

JOHESU comprises Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria (MHWUN), National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives (NANNM), Senior Staff Association of Universities, Teaching Hospitals, Research Institutes and Associated Institutions (SSAUTHRIAI), Nigeria Union of Allied Health Professionals (NUAHP) and Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists of Nigeria.

JOHESU 15-POINT DEMAND

Here are the demands by JOHESU that the Federal Government agreed to implement.

1. Internship: Immediate release of the harmonized scheme of service and circular on internship for nurses and midwives.

2. CONHESS salary review: Government agreed to the request of JOHESU to adjust CONHESS salary structure upward. The need for recomputed cost implications of the salary adjustment was taken into consideration.

3. Skipping of CONHESS 10: Immediate and full payment of arrears of salaries of CONHESS 10 skipping outstanding.

4. Payment of promotion arrears: Both parties agreed that payment of promotion arrears should be carried out.

5. Same scale promotion/redesignation: FMOH was directed to write a circular to all institutions to abolish further promoting people without advancement.

6. Employment: It was agreed that government should prioritize employment in the critical professional areas. Since government regularly employed resident doctors, other core professionals should be employed to boost human resources development for health.

7. ENHANCED ENTRY POINT: This was initially requested for radiographers and medical lab scientists based on enabling circular from the head of service. The agreement is that this should be done holistically to accommodate all other graduates of other health care professionals. 

7. APPOINTMENT OF CMD/MD: It was agreed that the Federal government will henceforth do advertisements in the appointments of head of health institutions in accordance with the law that establishes the health institutions without prejudice to any particular profession.

8. HEADS OF DEPARTMENT : It was decided that universities of teaching hospitals cannot be separated from their teaching hospitals. The FMOH was directed to always accommodate the necessity of change in policy and guidelines as no policy should be seen as sacrosanct.

9. Specialist Allowance: The FMoH is to enlarge the three-man committee that is considering the eligibility for specialist allowance to accommodate two members of JOHESU.

10. Board appointment to Institutions: The final approval is being awaited from the President while HMoH should put more pressure to ensure board appointment.

11. PPP: If Public Private Partnership is inevitable it must not be any measure to impoverish Nigerians and send workers out of the job. All stakeholders must be mobilized and involved in planning and execution of the program.

12. Anti-corruption struggle at FMC Owerri: Those that are being punished as a result of strike action at FMC Owerri to be promoted to level up with their counterparts. The FMoH and Labour agreed to take up the issue of withheld salary to be discussed and settled internally.

13. Retirement age from 60-65: It was agreed that retirement should be adjusted as done for their counterpart in the Education Sector

14. Additional Demands: Need to urgently set up a collective bargaining agreement committee to look at the following allowances for JOHESU members, such as  headship allowance, administrative allowance, professional allowance, excess work load allowance, health and safety site allowance.

JOHESU DEMANDS NOT IMPLEMENTED

JOHESU claimed that the previous administration of Goodluck Jonathan agreed to implement these demands in 2015.

However, the Minister of Health insisted that there was no agreement between the Federal Government and JOHESU prior to the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.

He said what JOHESU brandished as 2014 agreement were minutes of meetings they had with the organs of Federal Government.

The implication of when the agreement was reached is that JOHESU wants government to pay arrears from 2014, and not September 2017 which the Buhari administration agreed to. This is one of the demands the minister brandish as implemented.

Furthermore,  the adjustment in the salaries of doctors have been implemented since 2014 and JOHESU is also demanding that the same measures should be applied to its members from 2014, rather than 2017 when Buhari’s administration agreed to review the salaries of JOHESU.

Despite the disagreement on when the implementation should start, some of the 15-point demand by JOHESU has not been implemented, contrary to claims by the Minister of Health.   

For example, the government has not increased the retirement age of JOHESU members from 60 to 65 years.

Also the skipping of Consolidated Health Salary Scale (CONHESS 10) arrears has not been paid as well as the implementation of the scale to scale promotion, especially on CONHESS 14 to 15.

Other demands that have not been implemented include employment of health workers to address the shortage of manpower in critical professional areas.

CONCLUSION: The statement by the Minister of Health that all the 14 of the 15 demands of JOHESU have been met by government is FALSE; MISLEADING and absolutely UNTRUE.

NIGERIAN BOOTED OUT OF US AIRLINE AFTER PASSENGER COMPLAINED OF BODY ODOUR

A Nigerian woman is taking United Airlines to court, alleging that the carrier racially discriminated against her by removing her from her flight at Houston’s Bush Intercontinental Airport after a fellow passenger complained that she had a “pungent” odour.

On May 11, Queen Obioma filed a federal discrimination suit in Texas, stating that she and her children were wrongfully kicked off a flight headed to San Francisco on March 4, 2016, the second leg of a three-flight trip from Lagos, Nigeria, to Ontario, Canada, where her kids attend school, the Houston Chronicle reports.

According to the lawsuit, Obioma boarded the plane and found a white male passenger sitting in her assigned business class seat, from which he refused to move. When a flight attendant failed to resolve the conflict as the man continued to refuse to move to his own assigned seat, Obioma agreed to take his spot.

Obioma went to the restroom before takeoff and returned to find the man blocking her from accessing the seat for several minutes. The mother then alleged that a United staffer, identified as Russel H., instructed her to step off the plane, where she was informed by another United agent that the pilot requested that she exit as the man causing trouble complained that she was “pungent” and did not feel comfortable flying with her.

Shaken, Obioma had her children removed from the flight as well, and the family made their connection five hours later. A frequent flyer member of United’s Star Alliance programme, Obioma said the airline discriminated against her because she was black, African and Nigerian.

United returned Fox News’ request for comment with the following statement:

“We have not yet been served with this suit and due to the pending litigation involved in this matter, we’re unable to provide further comment,” spokesman for the airline said, in an emailed statement.

Obioma is seeking punitive damages and legal fees.