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The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) on Sunday appealed to workers in Kogi State not to see suicide as a way out of the current hardship imposed on them as a result of non-payment of their salary.
The state Chairman of the NLC, Mr Onu Edoka who made the appeal in Lokoja warned the workers against embarking on any any extreme action, saying that the tough time will soon be over.
Edoka who was reacting to the death of a director in the state teaching service Commission, Mr Edward Soje who committed suicide on Oct. 16 as a result of financial hardship insisted that taking one’s life should not be an option.
Soje’ wife is yet to be informed of the tragic death of her husband.
A team of pastors and relations raised to visit and break the news to her this morning were prevailed upon to hold on by the management of the Abuja hospital due to her precarious health condition, a source close to the family said.
Edoka explained that many workers and pensioners in Soje’s shoe had died due to non-payment of their salary and pensions by the state government.
According to him, many workers in the state have had their ailments aggravated as a result of lack of salary.
He said that high blood pressure and diabetes had become common among them.
Edoka said that the organised Labour had started compiling statistics of workers and pensioners that have lost their life prematurely to the problem of non-payment of salary and monthly pensions under the administration of Gov. Yahaya Bello.
He said that a near accurate figure of victims at both state and local government levels will soon be made public.
Edoka appealed to relatives, friends, religious organisations and good spirited individuals in and outside the state to come to the aid of the workers to stem the tide of untimely death.
The NLC Chairman again 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.
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.
The Chairman expressed displeasure with the state government for taking to the pages of newspapers to publish the names of workers and their salaries.
He described the action as ridiculous and an attempt by the state government to cover up the misapplication of about N200 billion it collected from the federation account, bail out funds, Paris Club refund and the internal generated revenue among other sources from January, 2016 to September, 2017.
The NLC Chairman explained that the bogus figures quoted by the government was a clear attempt to mislead the public, urging the governor to halt his ego trip and invite the workers to the negotiation table.
Also a statement jointly issued by the NLC and the Trade Union Congress ( TUC) described the publication of workers names and salary figures as a very wrong step on the part of the state government.
“The security implication of this very wrong step is that criminals could get hold of this document and begin to trace the very workers whose names government has published for harm.
“As organised labour, we find it difficult to place the faith of those who are constantly feeding the public with lies when the truth of the matter is that Kogi State civil servants and pensioners are dying of starvation and treatable diseases.
“Workers are walking the streets of Lokoja as beggars because their salaries and allowances have not been paid for a period of three to twenty-two months by the government of Alhaji Yahaya Bello, ” the statement said.
The statement signed by Mr Olakunle Faniyi and Mr Kolawole James, state secretaries of NLC and TUC respectively challenged the state government to be more sincere and transparent by publishing the names and the amount being owed cleared workers and pensioners in the past 21 months.
The unions then expressed their shock over the death of Soje and prayed God to grant his family the fortitude to bear the loss.
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