Workers of the Ogbonnaya Onu Polytechnic, formerly known as Abia State Polytechnic, Aba, who were disengaged from service in 2019, have cried out to the incumbent Abia state Governor, Dr Alex Otti over their unpaid entitlements.
The disengaged workers who lament hunger, urge the governor to pay them their entitlements owned since 2019. They also beg the governor to reinstate them as they were allegedly sacked unjustly from service by the management of the polytechnic.
The group also disclosed that about four of them have already died due to a lack of funds to obtain good medical attention, while most of them have relocated to their various villages and their children whom they could not afford their school fees have been withdrawn from from their schools.
During an interview with journalists in Umuahia, Comrade Nwachukwu Chuks, the coordinator for the dismissed workers, stated that over 100 disengaged employees have fallen victim to political persecution due to their involvement in staff union activities. He emphasized the need for their reinstatement and the payment of their outstanding salaries.
He said;” We are dying of hunger and other forms of deprivations. Many of our members have relocated to their villages and their children have withdrawn from schools because they can no longer afford rent and school fees. We have also lost four of our members because they couldn’t afford medical bills to take care of themselves. This is why we are pleading with Governor Alex Otti to pay our entitlements owed to us from 2019 to date.
“We have not been paid a dime since we were unjustly disengaged in 2019. The annoying thing is that the government and the management of the polytechnic are no longer showing interest in our condition or even talking about it. Maybe, they feel that by terminating our appointments, they have terminated their obligations and responsibilities to us. Most of us served the polytechnic diligently and were close to retirement age before we were disengaged without any justification.
“All the affected workers were duly engaged by the state government and the Polytechnic. The workers were duly confirmed and promoted as and when due. These gestures gave statutory flavour to our appointments. The affected workers are not only entitled to their arrears of salaries before the termination but are also entitled to their gratuities and pensions.
“We have made efforts to draw the attention of the current management of the polytechnic and the Governor to our plight, without success. We are aware that the Governor has heard about our case, but we want urgent action to save lives and the future of our children. We want the Governor to direct the polytechnic to pay our entitlements and also reinstate us.
“We are aware that Alex Oti’s administration is not responsible for what happened but government is a continuum. This is why we have been pleading with him to come to our aid.
“The truth is that we are suffering from political victimization. We were disengaged because as union officials and leaders, we insisted that things must be done rightly, especially in the payment of salaries. We were sacked for insisting on due process and sanity in the polytechnic.
“The situation got to a choking point that industrial unions in the institution declared a total strike which the then government saw as an affront.
“As of 2019, we were owed 16 months arrears of salaries which has not been paid to date. Rather than address the issues which occasioned the strike, the government tagged the union leadership as agents of political destabilization. This was how we lost our jobs and have been suffering to date.
“Though the Alex Otti government is yet to look towards us, we commend how he has prioritized prompt payment of salaries in the state. We want him to treat us fairly because we were unjustly disengaged from service.”
