the Kogi State Transport Company have lost their lives under hunger-related
circumstances.
Two of the deceased’s’ colleagues– Mr Ndakwo Mohammed and Mr Anate Audu– who
disclosed this in a statement circulated among media houses in Lokoja on
Sunday, said that a number of their colleagues were also in life-threatening
situations .
They said that the workers who had put in years of services ranging from 10
years to 23 years, had been facing untold hardship and were now in
deteriorating health condition due to lack of money to
feed and pay for medical treatment.
children chased out of schools due to our inability to pay rents and schools
fees,” the statement said.
seek redress through the intervention of the state house of assembly and
several letters to the state governor, Capt Idris Wada had proved abortive.
The News Agency of Nigeria ( NAN) recalls that the Kogi State Transport Company
had, through a circular dated June 30, 2011 and signed by its General Manager,
Mr Augustine Tokula, directed all the 142 members of staff of the company to
immediately proceed on compulsory leave without pay.
The fate of the workers have since then been hanging in the balance as the
government has continued to remain silent on the matter.
Both Mohammed and Audu appealed to the state government to take a definite
position on their matter, saying that they could no longer live with their
present condition.
The workers have also indicated their interest to embark on peaceful protests
on major streets of Lokoja, and have written to intimate the State Security
Service and the police of their plan.