Kwara Water Works Shut As Workers Protest

 LAYI OLANREWAJU, Ilorin

The workers, who took to the street in Ilorin yesterday were protesting non-remittance of deductions from their salaries for cooperative unions and National Housing Fund under the supervision of the Federal Mortgage Bank.

The protesters under the aegis of the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN) and Amalgamated Union of Public Corporations alleged that a deduction of N37.8million for cooperative unions and outstanding National Housing Fund deduction amounting to N5.6million for a period of 55 months (between June 2013 and December 2017) were not remitted to the appropriate quarters.

The Chairman, Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN), Kwara State Water Corporation Unit, Comrade Ahmed Kazeem, who spoke to newsmen during a protest procession to Governor’s Office in Ilorin, said the government has refused to address their grievances.

Kazeem vowed that the waterworks, which had been shut for four working days running, would not be reopened until the deductions were remitted.

Kazeem disclosed that the workers got their letters of promotion in December 2018 with a promise to effect financial implication from January this year.

Also speaking, the Chairperson for

Amalgamated Union of Public Corporations, Kwara State chapter, Mrs. Funmi Olanrewaju, said the aggrieved workers were protesting against non-payment of accumulated deductions from their salaries over the years.

The protesters, after waiting endlessly at the main gate leading to Governor’s office along Ahmadu Bello Way, Ilorin without anyone coming out to address them, headed to Government House, to also register their grievances against the government.

Ends