Health care workers protest over salaries

Staff of Adamawa Primary Healthcare Development Agency on Tuesday staged a peaceful protest in Yola, demanding the payment of their outstanding salaries.

The protesting staff carried placards calling for the removal of the Executive Chairman of the agency, Dr Abdullahi Belel, and the state branch Chairman of the Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria (MHWUN), Mr Jeremiah Ngwakwar, for allegedly neglecting their welfare.

Spokesman of the protesters, Malam Halilu Ahmed, said since the upgrading of the state primary healthcare department to an agency, the staff had been left in a limbo.

He called for Gov. Bindow Jibrilla's personal intervention to address their plight. Reacting to the development, Belel said the workers were being owed two months salaries and the problem was caused by the dwindling monthly allocation for local government councils who are responsible for paying the agency workers.

Belel said the monthly salary bill of the workers is about N300 million and due to fall in monthly allocation to local governments the deductions made were not enough to pay and on many occasions the agency had to borrow to pay.He urged the workers to exercise patience, adding that the committee set up last week by the state government for local government staff verification was part of measures to address their problem.