Workers Protest Four-month Unpaid Salaries in Katsina 

Francis Sardauna in Katsina 

Employees of the Katsina State Hotels Management Board, Monday, held a peaceful protest over four-month salary arrears and other entitlements owed them by the board.

The protesters, mostly men, besieged the Government House in Katsina, chanting songs of solidarity and emotional tunes with placards, demanding their entitlements to be paid.

One of the protesters and staff of Katsina Motel, Ibrahim Isa, said they decided to embark on the protest to register their grievances with Governor Dikko Umaru Radda over the non-payment of their salaries for four months.

He said they have been going through hardship because of their unpaid salaries, adding that their children had been sent away from school over unpaid school fees and other levels.

According to Isa, “Our children are at home because we can no longer pay their school fees. The future of our children should not be gambled with. Our wives have left us because we can’t provide food for them and cater for their demands.”

But a top government official, who craved anonymity, said it was the responsibility of the Katsina Hotel Management Board to pay the workers from the money generated from the motel, not the state government.

The source, however, expressed optimism that Governor Radda will intervene in order to enable the management of the board to pay the salary arrears and other entitlements of the workers.