On Tuesday, Civil servants numbering “about 1,700” took to the streets of Cross River to protest the non-payment of five years’ salaries.
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| Cross River State workers protest non-payment of salaries. Photo: PMNews |
The workers barricaded the State Secretariat entrance as they converged as early as 7:30am.
They sang solidarity songs, displayed various placards with diverse inscriptions and pleaded with the government to pay them their salaries.
Some of the inscriptions on the placards:
• “where is the fold on the table you promised? Hunger is everywhere we are humans and not animals.”
• “Gov. Ayade pay us our salaries. We were duly employed. Five years is not five days.”
Mr Raphael Antigha, spokesperson of the protesters, opened up, said, since they got their employments, between 2017 and 2018, they have not been paid any salary.
Mr. Antigha said: “We have made many emissaries to the government to get them to pay us and each time, it is the same promises.
“The government has made us undergo two screenings and verification to resolve the issue and yet, the issue remains the same.
“We were duly employed and have all been issued establishment numbers and even appointment letters and properly documented.
“We are just about 1,700 in number and the highest salary amongst us is N47,000.
“Each time the government complains of no money and yet, he gives out hundreds of political appointments each week, where is he getting the money to pay them?”
On behalf of the Cross River State government, Head of Service, Mr Ogbang Akwaji, responded, that the government of the State was not owing any worker salary
“Cross River government is one state that has placed great premium on the welfare of its workforce, in spite the challenging revenue inflows.
“At the moment, July salaries have been paid to workers by the state government. There are no workers in the state who are being owed five years salaries.”
