Isaac Anumihe
Following the uproar that trailed the arrest of some staff of Maritime Academy of Nigeria (MAN), Oron, the management of the troubled institute yesterday gave explanations on the controversial arrest, saying that the workers engaged in document peddling and sharp practices.
In a statement, the management maintained that in the event of implementing the directive handed down to the new management by the House of Representatives Committee on Federal Character it was discovered that there were some irregularities in the staff recruitment.
“The House of Representatives Committee on Federal Character invited the academy due to irregularities noticed in its employment processes of 2016.
“The irregularities included the employment of 83 persons illegally employed into the academy by the registrar of the academy who was acting then as a rector after the demise of the former rector of the academy.
“Many people were not happy about that employment because 90 per cent of those employed were members of Mkpandiok’s church and 80 per cent were from Oron in Akwa Ibom State.
“The House Committee on Federal Character now asked the academy to go back and represent some documents. But what some workers who are still loyal to Mkpandiok did was to smuggle in some documents to embarrass the rector, Commodore Emma Duja Effedua. They then covered the smuggled documents with a cover letter and brought it to the rector’s table for signing.
“The rector insisted on going through the documents, not knowing what they had done, and was shocked to discover documents defending the illegal employment with most of the facts distorted.
“Out of rage, the rector walked them out of his office and decided to compile the documents requested by the House Committee on Federal Character, himself.
“It was while compiling the documents that the rector received reports that the Director of Human Resources (DHR), Mr. Emmanuel Essien was busy in his office manufacturing minutes of meetings with the sole intention of forging the signatures of management team of the academy,” the statement said.