Kaduna — Midwives and Community Health Extension Workers (CHEWs) engaged under the Subsidy Re-investment and Empowerment Programme Maternal Child Health Care (SURE-P MCH) in Kaduna State yesterday protested over non-payment of 35 months allowances by the state and local governments.

 

They took the protest to the state secretariat of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) with placards demanding payment of the outstanding allowances be made', 'SURE-P should be brought to book' among others alleged that since their engagement in 2012, they have not receive any payment from the state and local governments.

 

Habiba Suleiman who spoke on behalf of the protesters, said: "The state and local governments have not paid us since we were engaged, yet a memo was issued asking us to stop work but how can we stop work when they have not paid us?

 

 

 

"We started work in September 2012 and were engaged by the federal, state and local governments. Our engagement letters stated that they were to pay us allowances but since we started, only the federal government has been paying us allowances. The state and local governments have not given us anything, this is the 35th month. We sense foul play with the way our issue is being handled by the state Ministry of health". They appealed to Governor Nasir El-Rufai to intervene. The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health, Paul M. Dogo, said the workers were engaged by the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) from Abuja under the SURE-P MCH, adding that there had been problem of payment of their allowances.

 

"We need to authenticate their data, their number and even where they work before any payment can be made. We have arranged for a meeting with the leader of the group so that we can begin the process," he said.

 

By Christiana T. Alabi

Daily Trust