The 2019 Abia State unified Local Government workers have appealed to Governor Okezie Ikpeazu to look into their plights, as they have been disengaged from service without any reason.
The workers who said they are over two thousand came to the secretariat of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), Aba Federated Chapel to make the appeal.
With placards that bear different inscriptions like “please don’t push us back to the streets”, “please confirm all 2019 LG workers”, “we were suspended when it was time to confirm our appointments” said that they were employed by the Abia Local Government Service Commission in 2019 after successfully passing due processes.
The protesting workers told journalists that they were shocked to see the Abia State Local Government Service Commission release list of newly employed local government workers with their names conspicuously missing.
Okezie Njoku, an affected worker from Isiala Ngwa North Local Government said that after their employment in 2019, they were not paid for one year as the government indicated that their employments was under probation.
“After one year, the salary started coming which lasted for 11 months and stopped again. Since January 2021, we’ve not been paid any money.
“They said they’ll look into it and get back to us. The Chief of staff to the Governor called us and said they’re looking into our employment process saying that there were irregularities in the process that brought us in.
“This is after we’ve done all necessary things. We relaxed hoping to hear from them. To our greatest shock, the government started employing new LG workers who were not even part of the 2019 set that they told us they’ll look into our problem.
“We’re begging our Governor Dr Okezie Ikpeazu whom all of us here have been supporting to please hear our cries.
“In 2019 they assured us that if he wins the election, our employment will be confirmed and we all made moves to support his election, but today, we’ve been abandoned and most of us are dying of hunger and starvation.”
Uzoma Mgba said that they went through the entire necessary processes from medical to everything else and were even issued with identity cards of employment.
“We were issued appointment letters. We still have them till today. During the Covid-19 lockdown, they said people in our level should not be coming to work which was the only time we avoided the place of our works to obey the health rules.
“The last payment we got was since November 2020. Throughout this 2021, we’ve not received any salary and we’ve been going to work and thumb printing.
“We’ve tried to reach out to the government, that was when the Chief of Staff to the governor had a meeting with us and promised to look into our matter.
“However, just a few weeks ago, they released 250 names which they tagged newly employed workers with barely a few us there. We’re in the thousands. We now heard that our employment is over.
“We don’t understand. We’re begging the Governor to look into this case. We’re not strangers. Abia is our state. How can we be treated like this? Let the governor help us.”
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