By Akpan Udo-Inyang
CALABAR
Many local government staff in Cross River have been reported dead in a road accident while traveling for the previous verification exercise initiated by the State Government.
Others have died as a result of hunger and hardships due to nonpayment of 11 months salaries with some languishing in hospitals unable to offset their medical bills while others have been ejected from their homes over inability to pay rents.
The affected local government workers disclosed this while embarking on public protest on Wednesday morning in spite of the torrential downpour.
The protesters were drawn from various local government areas and they had marched through major streets of the state capital to the Governor’s Office, with placards bearing such inscriptions as, “We are suffering,” “Payroll us,” and “We need our salaries.”
One of the protesters, Happiness Augustine, who reported about her colleague’s accident, said she was employed in 2025 but had yet to receive any salary after nearly a year of service.
According to her, “We came for a protest before and a panel was set up. During the screening process, one of our colleagues had an accident on his way and died. We are still waiting for the governor to say something. We are pleading with him to help us. ”
” We are on our knees begging him to pay us. We have families to take care of and we have continued working without salaries,” she added.
Also lamenting before journalists in Calabar, the leader of the protesting workers, Uchi Julius said they have lost, at least, six of their colleagues.
“We are hungry. We are dying. We have lost more than six colleagues. They can never return,” Julius said.
He added, “One of the campaign promises was massive employment. Today, the 2,000 health workers said to have been employed are here, yet many of us have not been paid. We didn’t come here to beg for money; we came to ask for what we have worked for.”
Julius, said many of those employed in 2025 had resumed duties but had yet to receive salaries despite working for almost a year.