Scores of staffers of the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology staged a protest yesterday and demanded the removal of the Permanent Secretary (PS) in the ministry, Dr Amina Bello Shamaki accusing her of high ‘handedness and incompetency’.
She was in 2015 redeployed by President Muhammadu Buhari from Ministry of Niger Delta.
But when contacted, a ministry official said he was not aware of any grievance by the protesting civil servants of the ministry.
“We are not aware of any grievance that could warrant the protest,” a director in the ministry who confirmed the protest in a chat with Daily Trust said yesterday.
The senior civil servant, who pleaded anonymity because he was not asked to speak with the media on the issue, said it was against the civil service rule to protest when you have not put forward your grievance.
He said if anybody wants to protest against any appointment or appointee, the protest should be after a compliant has been laid.
However one of the protesters who insisted on not being named to avoid victimisation told Daily Trust that the protest was due to incompetence of the PS and her highhandedness.
According to her, there was a gunshot during the protest forcing protesters to scamper for safety.
She also said that she later saw some union officials running after a man who allegedly fired the shot.
She could however not confirm if there were causalities or the identity of the person who allegedly fired the shot.
