Posted on: Tue 23-06-2020

Medical workers of the FCT COVID-19 Response Team on Monday marched through the streets of Abuja to protest against the non-payment of  their three months’ daily hazard allowances.

The protesting health workers, including investigators and sample collectors, marched from Wuse Zone 3 through the Central Business District to the Federal Capital Territory Administration to ventilate their grievances at the Ministry of the FCT.

But the Permanent Secretary in the FCT told them to go back to work, assuring them they would be paid before Wednesday. The spokesperson for the group, Abiodun Adio, told The PUNCH on the telephone that the government had not paid allowances since April.

“They paid us in March, but they didn’t pay us April and May allowances. We were ejected from our hotels and some of us started borrowing money from friends and colleagues to come to work. “People in treatment centres are not different from us; they have accommodation and they are feeding them morning, afternoon and night. They have accommodation too.”

Similarly, some aggrieved workers of the University College Hospital, Ibadan, Oyo State, staged a peaceful protest to the office of the Chief Medical Director of the hospital, Prof. Jesse Otegbayo, on Monday. The aggrieved workers demanded the full payment of the ‘50 per cent COVID-19 hazard allowance’ to workers across the board in the hospital.

Their spokesman, Monday Oyatoki, explained that the workers were agitated by the discrimination that trailed the payment of the COVID-19 hazard allowance to the staff of UCH. Oyatoki said, “I want to tell all those who have been cheated, if you sit at home, your problem will sit with you. We are not fighting against the management; what we are saying is that we should be treated equally. While the doctors and other health workers were paid 50 per cent as promised, other categories were paid just 10 per cent while some categories did not get anything.”

While addressing the protesters, the CMD said, “What you are doing is legitimate but it is not as difficult as you may think it is. You know that the cardinal points or focus of this administration is staff welfare. I want to let you know that we have been working hard to ensure that your welfare at all times is taken care of.”

The Public Relations Officer, UCH, Mr Toye Aderinlola, said, “Nobody is fighting for non-payment of allowances. What they can be saying is that some received 50 per cent while others got 10 per cent. As far as we are concerned, government had paid what they want to pay to all categories of health workers. It is Abuja that pays.”

Source: Punch

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