9 Workers In Kogi Die Of Poverty When Government Refused To Pay Salaries

Nine of the 142 staff placed on compulsory leave without pay since 2011 by the Kogi State Transport Company have died.

Two colleagues of the deceased persons, Ndakwo Mohammed and Anate Audu, made this known in a statement circulated to media houses in Lokoja on Sunday.

Messrs Mohammed and Audu said a number of their colleagues were also facing life-threatening situations .

They said that the workers who had put in years of services, ranging from 10  to 23 years, are facing untold hardship with their health failing because they neither have money to feed nor to pay for medical treatment.

“Many of us have been ejected out of our houses and our children chased out of schools due to our inability to pay rents and schools fees,” the statement said.

All efforts to seek redress through the intervention of the state house of assembly and several letters to the state governor, Idris Wada, were unsuccessful, the workers said.

The Kogi State Transport Company had, through a circular dated June 30, 2011 and signed by its General Manager, Augustine Tokula, directed all the 142 members of staff of the company to immediately proceed on compulsory leave without pay.

The fate of the workers have since then been hanging in the balance as the government has continued to remain silent on the matter.

Messrs Mohammed and Audu appealed to the state government to take a definite position on their matter, saying that they could no longer live with their present condition.

The workers also indicated their plans to embark on peaceful protests on major streets of Lokoja.

 The State Security Service and the police have been notified of the plan, the workers said.