BREAKING: Edo: COVID-19 response team protest over unpaid stipends

Workers in the Edo state COVID-19 response team on Tuesday protested none payment of their stipends.

The protesters blocked the entrance gate to the office of the Hospital Management Board, HMB, in Benin City, the state capital.

One of the leaders of the protesters, Ojeme Emmanuel said some of them have only collected staggered days stipends for the number of days worked for in the month of April. He said none of the workers has collected the full month as earlier promised by the state government representatives.

‘Bros they agreed to pay us 3,000 per day which amounts to #90,000 per month but none of us here have ever received such an amount of money as stipends.

‘what we have in Edo as a government is a funny one, you can imagine a government that does not want to pay those who worked for them. We had over four of our colleagues right inside the isolation centre. The COVID-19 response team faced a lot of dangers.

‘The government said they have spent over one billion naira on COVID-19 but are unable to pay those that actually did the job.

At the time of filing this report, the State Commissioner for Health Dr Patrick Okundia said he would have to meet the Deputy Governor of the state and the representative of the team before he can respond.

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