Edo state street sweepers protest non-payment of six months salary

Street sweepers in Benin yesterday staged a protest demanding the payment of their outstanding salaries running into six months.

‎The protesters who matched to the Secretariat of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) in Benin, said they were employed by the government which had not paid in the past six months.
One of the protesters, Mary Omoregie who spoke to journalists, said they could no longer bear the hardship. “I work in New Lagos Road. Let the government please pay us. One of us was involved in an accident while working. Things have not been easy for us,” she said, adding that they protested to the Government House last week but were begged to go home that they would pay them.

Edo state street sweepers

Another sweeper, Mama Okoyomon, said they had become debtors in order to meet their obligations as parents. She said, “Since October 2017, we have not been paid. Some of us are single mothers and we cannot provide food or buy books for our children anymore.”
Responding, Governor Godwin Obaseki said that the government was not indebted to the sweepers as they were not government employees.
Speaking through his Special Adviser on Media and Communication Strategy, Crusoe Osagie, Obaseki said the sweepers were employed by contractors hired by the state government.
“There is no direct business relationship or employer-employee relationship between the government and the people who sweep the streets,” he said.