JOS – Hundreds of street sweepers on Friday staged a protest over the non-payment of their three months salary arrears in Jos, Plateau, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.
The street sweepers, who begun their protest at the Joseph Gomwalk Secretariat, marched to the New Government House at Rayfield, to register their displeasure with Gov. Jonah Jang.
The sweepers were engaged by the state government to clean the Jos-Bukuru axis of the metropolis five years ago.
They carried leaves and chanted songs of sorrow as they marched on the streets to the Governor’s Office.
Mrs Rose Chuwang, Spokeswoman of the sweepers, said “for three months now, our monthly stipends of N8,000 have not been paid by the state government.
“Most of us are widows, whose children are going hungry because of the unfortunate situation we now find ourselves.
“The children of some of us have been thrown out of school because of our inability to pay their fees, “ she lamented.
“tPlease temper justice with mercy and pay our salary arrears, to enable us meet our responsibilities,” she said.
According to her, in spite of the non-payment of their salaries, they have continued to be at their duty posts daily and doing their work.
When contacted, Mrs Olivia Dazyem, Commissioner for Information, described the demonstration as “politically motivated”.
“After all, they were called to the secretariat for their pay today, but while they were waiting, a governorship aspirant mobilized them to take leaves and protest.
“As we speak, they are being paid their salaries; I don’t know why somebody would instigate them to stage such an unfortunate protest,” Dazyem lamented. (NAN)
