Government workers, including health personnel in Nasarawa state, commenced a one-week strike on Friday, May 8, due to an alleged deduction of their salaries and the absence of adequate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).
The Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Akwe Baba Omadefu, representing other labor executives in the state, stated that approximately 25% of their salaries were deducted by the state government.
He expressed,
“We are urging for full payment of our salaries without the 25% deductions for staff of the 13 local governments.
“We are also demanding free Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) instead of being required to purchase them.
“This is the reason why we have barricaded the entrance of Karu Local Government Secretariat.”
While the Chairman of Karu Local Government, Mr. Samuel Gajere Akala, insisted that the protesting workers had “taken the laws into their own hands,” the state Commissioner for Justice, Dr. Abdulkarim Kana, claimed they were unaware of the workers’ grievances.
He informed Daily Trust,
“We do not even know their grievances. Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), which is supposed to be the umbrella body of local government workers, did not approve the strike.
“The government of Nasarawa still appeals to them to come forward with their grievances against their local government councils.”