Traffic boss in trouble after cutting females’ hair as discipline – PHOTOS
A senior Nigerian commander in charge of traffic has been recalled after pictures of him cutting female employees’ long hair as punishment went viral on social media.
Andrew Kumapayi, the regional commander for the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) in the southern Rivers State, Nigeria, was filmed cutting the women’s hair at an inspection parade in the city of Port Harcourt on Monday.
Nigeria’s road safety organisation reportedly said the commander had been disciplined after cutting female employees’ long hair as punishment.
Photographs of Mr Kumapayi carrying out the punishment, which were published on the official FRSC Facebook page and have now been taken down, sparked outrage online.
HAIR AND FINGERNAILS INSPECTION
The post said that Mr Kumapayi was carrying out a “hair, uniform and fingernails inspection” of staff.
An official guide for female staff at FRSC parades says they must “maintain a hairstyle that can be tucked into their beret.” It does not mention a ban on long hair.
Mr Kumapayi has not commented.
A spokesman who spoke to BBC, said the officer’s action was “outside” the FRSC mandate.
Onochie, an aide to Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari, condemned the action saying “humiliation of women taken too far” in a post on Twitter.
“The “men” who did this have been suspended by FRSC,” she said a couple of hours later.
Other officers involved in the incident had also been recalled, Bisi Kazeem, a FRSC spokesman, confirmed to state-run News Agency of Nigeria.
An investigation was under way and “appropriate sanctions” would be taken against those involved, he added.