NLC begs Kogi workers to stop committing suicide

Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello

The Kogi State Chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, Mr Onu Edoka, on Sunday in Lokoja appealed to the state workers not to go to an extreme of committing suicide over their current plight of non-payment of salary by the state government, advising that the storm would soon be over.

Naija News gathered that Edoka said this while reacting to the suicide of a director in the state, Mr Edward Soje on Oct. 20 due to his financial problem as a result of non-payment of salary by the state government. The union expressed shock over his death and prayed that God grants his family fortitude to bear the loss.

Edoka revealed that many workers and pensioners had died due to lack of salary and pensions by the state government, adding that many others had their ailments aggravated.

He added that the figures of those who had died would soon be released to the public.

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The NLC chairman appealed to relatives, friends, religious organisations and well meaning individuals both within and outside the state to come to the rescue of the workers to avert untimely deaths.

Edoka also called on President Muhammadu Buhari to come to the aid of workers in Kogi State by sending foods, drugs and other relief materials to them through the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA.

He also pleaded with the presidency to set up a fact finding committee to come and ascertain the true situation of things with workers in the state.

Edoka condemned the state government for publishing the names of workers and their salaries on the pages of newspapers, saying the figures quoted by the government was incorrect.

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A statement issued by the NLC and the Trade Union Congress, TUC described the publication as a wrong move, calling on the state government to publish the names of the workers and pensioners and the amount being owed in the past 21 months.

“The security implication of this very wrong step is that criminals could get hold of this document and begin to trace the workers whose names government has published.

“Workers are walking the streets of Lokoja like beggars because their salaries and allowances have not been paid for a period of three to twenty-two months by the government,” the statement said.