» 9 Kogi Workers Die Of Hunger Waiting For Unpaid Salaries «

Nine out of the 142 staff placed on compulsory
leave without pay since 2011 by the Kogi State
Transport Company have lost their lives under
hunger-related circumstances.
Two of the deceased’s’ colleagues– Mr Ndakwo
Mohammed and Mr Anate Audu– who disclosed
this in a statement circulated among media
houses in Lokoja on Sunday, said that a number
of their colleagues were also in life-threatening
situations .
They said that the workers who had put in years
of services ranging from 10 years to 23 years,
had been facing untold hardship and were now in
deteriorating health condition due to lack of
money to feed and 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.
It explained that all efforts to seek redress through
the intervention of the state house of assembly
and several letters to the state governor, Capt
Idris Wada had proved abortive.
The News Agency of Nigeria ( NAN) recalls that
the Kogi State Transport Company had, though a
circular dated June 30, 2011 and signed by its
General Manager, Mr Augustine Tokula, directed
all the 142 members of staff of the company to
immediately proceeded 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.
Both 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 have also indicated their interest to
embark on peaceful protests on major streets of
Lokoja, and have written to intimate the State
Security Service and the police of their plan.