Despite a heavy downpour, the protesters drawn from various local government areas marched through major streets of the state capital to the Governor’s Office, carrying placards with inscriptions such as “We are suffering,” “Payroll us,” and “We need our salaries.”
Speaking on behalf of the workers, protest leader Uchi Julius, said many of those employed in 2025 had resumed duties but were yet to receive salaries after almost a year.
He said the delay had subjected workers to severe hardship, with some reportedly dying during the verification process.
“We are hungry. We are dying. We have lost more than six colleagues. They can never return,” he said.
“One of the campaign promises was massive employment.
Today, the 2,000 health workers said to have been employed are here, yet many of us have not been paid. We didn’t come here to beg for money; we came to ask for what we have worked for.”
One of the protesters, Happiness Augustine, said she was employed in 2025 but had not received any salary after nearly a year of service.
“I was employed in 2025. Up till now, I have not been paid. It is one year in my office and I have not received any salary. We are begging Governor Bassey Otu to have mercy on us and pay us because we have been diligent in our duties,” she said.
She said the delay had left many workers in distress and disclosed that a colleague died in a road accident while travelling for the screening exercise set up after an earlier protest. “We are on our knees begging him to pay us.
“We have families to take care of and we have continued working without salaries,” she said. We came for a protest before and a panel was set up. During the screening process, one of our colleagues had an accident on his way and died.”
Responding to the protesters, Secretary to State Government (SSG) Prof. Anthony Owan Enoh, acknowledged their concerns and assured them the government was finalising the process to address the matter.
He said a panel of inquiry constituted after the previous protest had submitted its report and a white paper had been prepared.
“When you came here last time, I reported your concerns to the governor and a panel of inquiry was set up. That panel has submitted its report and we are now at the implementation stage,” he said. “I assure you that within two weeks, all of you will smile. If you have waited for almost a year, two weeks is not too long.”
