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KOGI WORKER’S SUICIDE: Govt absolves self of blame as labour fumes

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HALF SALARY: Labour unions fume, give Kogi govt one week ultimatum to pay up

Following the alleged suicide of Edward Soje, a level 16 officer and director in the Kogi State Civil Service, the Kogi State government has responded to reports linking its non-payment of salaries to Soje’s death, claiming that the reports were false.

In a statement released by the Kogi State Head of Service, Deborah Ogunmola, she stated that the deceased’s salary payment was suspended in December 2016 after admitting to age falsification but had been part of a category of workers who received pardon from Governor Yahaya Bello following negotiations with labour unions.

The government claimed that the late Soje was aware that he had been scheduled to receive six months back payment soon, having been duly notified.

Ogunmola said, “He continued to receive his salaries till December, 2016 even while the Staff Screening and Verification Exercise was ongoing.

“His pay was stopped after proof emerged that he falsified his age records. His confession to the offence is on video.

“Following engagements with Labour which spanned several months, the Kogi State Governor magnanimously commuted the disciplinary action due against certain categories of offenders by grant of pardon. Mr. Soje fell into one of the categories.

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“Pardoned staff were processed for reinstatement and payment in batches. Mr.. Soje was in the September 2017 batch and he was aware of this fact.

“The Kogi State Teaching Service Commission where he works has forwarded a template for payment to Government and Mr. Soje was aware that he was listed to receive 6 months back pay, leaving only 2 months (August and September) outstanding”.

But in its reaction to the tragedy, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) expressed shock over Soje’s suicide.

The unions said Kogi workers were still being owed salaries and allowances “for a period of three to twenty-two months”, adding that they had been reduced to beggars.

“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 state TUC and NLC said in a joint statement.

The statement signed by Olakunle Faniyi and Kolawole James, state secretaries of NLC and TUC, called on the Kogi government to publish the names and the amount being owed cleared workers and pensioners in the past 21 months.

Onu Edoka, state chairman of the NLC, while reacting, appealed to workers in Kogi State not to consider suicide a way out of the hardship suffered from non-payment of salaries.

Edoka claimed many workers and pensioners had died due to non-payment of their salary and pensions by the state government.

He added that organised labour had started compiling statistics of workers and pensioners that had lost their lives in the last one year, stating that the figures of victims would soon be made public.

The NLC chairman repeated an earlier request by the union, calling on President Muhammadu Buhari to come to the aid of workers in Kogi by sending food, drugs and other relief materials to them through the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA).

Edoka also appealed to the presidency to set up a fact-finding committee to come and ascertain the actual reality surrounding Kogi workers.

Soje had reportedly committed suicide by hanging himself on a tree, in the Kogi State capital, Lokoja.

His lifeless body had been found hanging on a tree close to the Maigumeri barracks of the Nigerian Army.

Police reports had confirmed that the 54-year-old took his life some 10 days after his wife of 17 years gave birth to a set of male triplets in a private hospital in Abuja. The couple had been childless prior to the arrival of the triplets.

 

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