Five female personnel of the Nigeria Immigration Service who were written up for misconduct after appearing in a viral video have been reposted from their current places of assignment in Abuja, Lagos and Enugu and given “graveyard” assignments as far afield as Borno, Kano and Yobe.
It will be recalled that following their appearance in the viral #DontRushChallenge video, Priscilla Irabor, Catherine J. Bakura, Blessing Alfred Udida, Binti I. Attabor and Ockiya Eneni were the subject of a disciplinary memo dated April 15, 2020.
The memo, which found its way into the public space sparked vocal condemnation and protests from civil society organisations, human rights lawyers and the general public.
Pop artist “Falz The Bahd Guy” whose song was used in the video even offered his help to the female officers, raising hopes that they would not be victimised for what many saw as harmless fun that merely portrayed the NIS in a human light.
These hopes appear to have been dashed now, as an official NIS memo leaked shows that the five officers have been handed punitive and discriminatory postings. The memo confirms that Priscilla IRabor has been transferred from the Lagos State Command to the Nigeria Immigration Training School, Kano (ITSK), while Binti Attabor has been reposted from the service headquarters in Abuja to the Yobe State Command.
Catherine Bakura has been moved from the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Abuja to the Nigeria Immigration Training School Ahoada, Rivers State, while Blessing Alfred Udida has been moved from the FCT Command to the Akwa Ibom State Command. Finally Ockiya Eneni has been transferred from the CERPAC (Combined Expatriate Residence Permit and Aliens Card) Production facility to the Borno State Command.
The memo also outlines a secondary punitive measure, which is that the relocation will be done at the personal expense of the officers involved, and they have been given just 7 days to report at their new places of assignment.
A source confirmed that the postings represent the outcome of the ‘investigation’ carried out into the alleged indiscipline of the officers in question, as well as an attempt to avoid the expected widespread backlash if they were dismissed or demoted.
The source also stated that while reassigning officers can be spun as a regular operational event in the service with no ulterior motives, it is clearly punitive in this case because from their entire class cohort, only the five officers concerned are being transferred.
