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OAU hospital workers protest 10 months’ unpaid salaries

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Some medical workers of the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital, Ile-Ife, Osun State have tackled the management for allegedly subjecting them to penury over 10 months of unpaid salaries.

The employees, who spoke with newsmen in different interviews on Wednesday, lamented that they had resorted to begging to feed their families due to the hardship the non-payment of salaries subjected them to.

One of the employees who identified himself simply as Ben decried that he had become incapable of feeding his family because of the non-payment of his salary since he joined the service of the OAUTH on December 13, 2022.

“I was given an appointment letter on December 13, 2022, after the completion of my medicals. I was posted to the place of my primary assignment. Since then, we have been in this sorry-case situation; no salary was paid to me as a staff member. I have rented an apartment and did a lot of things with my savings in the hope of recovering it when they would start paying me, but nothing came out from it,” he lamented.

Another employee, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of being penalised, stressed that the non-payment of salary and some unfair policies ravaging the health sector in Nigeria were factors forcing brains out of the country.

He said, “Some of the reasons why our medical practitioners such as doctors, pharmacists, nurses, medical laboratory scientists, physiotherapists, radiographers etc. are leaving the country to the US, other European and African countries is because the ones that are working in Nigeria are suffering.

“Imagine a medical staff member working in a Federal Government teaching hospital for over 10 months without being paid one kobo because we have not been captured by the IPPIS due to one or two reasons best known to the ministry and the hospital management. Many lives are already miserable, Staff members are living in debt, families are breaking, many are not able to pay their children’s school fees, and some are depressed. How do you want that same worker to attend to a patient?”

He noted that all efforts to ensure that their pleas were attended to proved abortive while appealing to the relevant authorities to come to their aid.

“In the past, various health unions such as JOHESU had embarked on strike actions in solidarity with the newly employed staff to persuade the management to pay salaries but these steps yielded no positive result because the employees were always forced or threatened back to work by the ministry of health.

“In September 2023, some officials of the Ministry of Health came to the hospital to carry out a verification for the new staff members. It’s two months ago and till this moment, we have not heard anything from them. The staff members are still working, suffering and smiling.

“To well-meaning Nigerians and the constituted authorities, please save the soul of the newly employed staff of the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital,” he concluded.

When contacted, the Chief Medical Director of OAUTH, John Okeniyi, directed our correspondent to a tweet by the Minister for Health, Muhammed Ali Pate, while stating that he could not make an official comment on the matter.

“I am not able to grant you any interviews formally or otherwise at this time because the Hon. Minister of Health (FMoHSW) has waded into this matter and I can only direct you to see his response to the issue on his Twitter (X) handle. I am awaiting directives from the FMoHSW.”

Pate had in a tweet on his verified X handle on October 13, noted that the investigation had been completed and the issue would be resolved soonest.

“We are addressing the OAUTH situation. The investigation has just been completed on this unfortunate situation. We understand the difficulties being faced by numerous innocent health workers and will do our best to resolve it equitably,” he had tweeted.

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Police probe video of officer in altercation with elderly woman in Lagos

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The Lagos police command says it has launched an investigation into a viral video of an officer involved in an altercation with an elderly woman.

POLICE COMMENCE INVESTIGATION INTO VIDEO OF POLICE OFFICER IN ALTERCATION WITH ELDERLY WOMAN

On Sunday, a video showing a police officer manhandling an elderly woman in her car began circulating on social media.

The officer was said to have demanded N250,000 from the woman which she refused to pay, before the altercation began.

Benjamin Hundeyin, the police spokesperson in Lagos, in a statement on Wednesday, condemned the action of the officer, noting that the inspector and his supervising deputy superintendent have been brought in for questioning.

Hundeyin said the incident took place in the Alagbado area of Lagos in the first week of September.

He assured the public that the investigation would be “swift, thorough and conclusive”.

“The command condemns the unprofessional conduct of the Inspector as it does not represent the ethics and operational standards of the Nigeria Police Force,” the statement reads.

“The command equally assures Lagosians that the investigation will be swift, thorough and conclusive.

“We will ensure that the officers are disciplined as appropriate, and members of the public are updated accordingly.”

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EFCC besieged Kogi lodge to forcefully arrest Yahaya Bello, says his media office

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The media office of Yahaya Bello has alleged that on Wednesday night, operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) laid siege to the Kogi Government Lodge in Abuja, in a bid to forcefully arrest the former governor.

The claim comes hours after Bello’s media office said the ex-governor had honoured the anti-graft agency’s invitation.

The EFCC had immediately denied that Bello was in its custody, restating that the All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain was still a wanted man.

However, Bello’s media office responded by saying the politician was not interrogated when he visited the EFCC office and was turned back.

“He was accompanied to the commission’s office by Gov Usman Ododo,” the media team had said.

‘THEY SHOT SPORADICALLY’

In a statement issued on Wednesday night, Ohiare Michael, director of the Yahaya Bello Media Office, said the operatives shot sporadically during the raid.

“It has come to our notice that people suspected to be operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, are currently around the Kogi Government Lodge, Asokoro in an attempt to forcefully arrest former Governor Yahaya Bello,” the statement reads.

“They were shooting sporadically.

“It was reported earlier that the former Governor went to the EFCC Office voluntarily, but the commission told him to leave and come at a later date, only to mount an attack on the Kogi Government facility in Asokoro.

“We want to place it on record that the EFCC should be held accountable if anything untoward happens to him.

“Tonight’s attack was needless as the former Governor made himself available to the EFCC in their office for interrogation.

“The EFCC had no question to ask Alhaji Yahaya Bello in the morning, but suddenly, they are out to arrest him.

“This action is condemnable. They have displayed the very reason many Nigerians believe they are fighting political battles instead of the mandate to fight corruption.

“This action reflects much more than a fight against corruption. We will keep Nigerians posted.”

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Geological agency asks residents not to panic as earth tremors rock Abuja

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The Nigerian Geological Survey Agency (NGSA) says there is no need for residents of the federal capital territory (FCT) to panic over recent earth tremors.

Residents of Mpape and Katampe communities in the FCT recently expressed fears following earth tremors that reportedly began on Saturday.

An earth tremor is a relatively small or short-lived movement of the earth’s surface. It is caused by the same forces that produce earthquakes.

In a statement on Wednesday, Olusegun Ige, NGSA director-general, said the agency monitored the tremors and found them to be low.

He added that the tremors do not pose any threats.

“The Monitoring Station (NGSA-5) at Katampe has been capturing several significant ground motions with high moment magnitudes (Mw) in the past five days, beginning from September 13, 2024 till date,” the statement reads.

“Only one mild event was recorded on September 13th. Six of these events were captured on the 14th of September, while over 21 events were captured on the 15th with higher intensities.

“More than twenty events were recorded on the 16th of September. The intensity and frequency of the tremor appear to increase from the 13th to 16th September. There are a few weak events recorded today, 17th September.

“Preliminary analysis of the waveforms showed that the sources of the ground motions are less than 5 km away from the monitoring station.

“NGSA team also visited the affected areas for on-the-spot assessments of the events. From the accounts of the residents of the affected areas, the observations by the NGSA team, and findings from earlier interpretations of the airborne geophysical data over the area and adjoining areas, the following conclusions were made:

“The tremors are a result of accumulated stress along the identified faults and released seismic energy, which may have traveled through associated fractures to areas where the tremors were felt around the FCT.

“There are multiple epicenters associated with the recent tremor. Most of the epicenters are located northeast of the NGSA-5 Seismic Station around Mpape axis, while a few are located southwest of the Station around Katampe axis.

“The intensities of the tremors are weak to light, ranging from III – IV on the Modified Mercalli Scale, and pose a very low level threat.”

The agency added that it is closely monitoring the situation.

“The residents of Mpape, Katampe, Maitama, and other areas where the tremors were felt are advised not to panic as the tremors can be generally described as low,” the statement adds.

“The Agency is keeping a close monitoring of the situation and will provide updates as may become necessary.

“The general public should also be aware that the NGSA Seismic Stations are being monitored in real time to ensure prompt alerts on any major event.”

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Bodex F. Hungbo, SPMIIM is a multiple award-winning Nigerian Digital Media Practitioner, Digital Strategist, PR consultant, Brand and Event Expert, Tv Presenter, Tier-A Blogger/Influencer, and a top cobbler in Nigeria.

She has widespread experiences across different professions and skills, which includes experiences in; Marketing, Media, Broadcasting, Brand and Event Management, Administration and Management with prior stints at MTN, NAPIMS-NNPC, GLOBAL FLEET OIL AND GAS, LTV, Silverbird and a host of others

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