Aggrieved Ondo Emergency Workers took to the street Monday, to protest the failure of the state government to pay their salaries for the past 12 months.
The workers under the aegis of State Emergency Medical Services Agency (ODEMSA), accused Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of being insensitive to their plight. They carried placards with various inscription such as: ‘’Hunger is Killing Us’’, ‘’Governor Akeredolu Hear our Cry’’,’’Pay our 12 Month Old Salary’’.
They took to the government office at Alagbaka in Akure with solidarity songs, demanding payment of their salaries starting from June 2017.
The workers bemoaned that refusal to pay their salaries was taking a heavy toll on them, as they had all been working hard without any salary.
Samuel Aderoju, leader of the protesters, said that the last time they received their salaries was in June 2017. He lamented that efforts to reach out to the Akeredolu-led government always met brick walls.
Samuel said “We are being owed 12-month salaries; some of us have sick children at home; we have wives and many of us have become debtors’’.
“We are the emergency rescue team on the highway but while we are all rescuing people, we are not being rescued as our salaries are not being paid.” he said.
Many of them also asked the state government to revalidate their ‘letter of permanency’ with the agency in order to become full-fledged staff.
According to news report, efforts to contact the State Ministry of Health proved abortive as none of the ministry’s official were ready to react to the issue.
Calls were also made to the commissioner of health, Wahab Adegbenro, but were not connecting as at report time.