Health workers in Gombe State on Monday staged a peaceful protest over 11 months of unpaid allowances and stipend.
The protesting health workers were doing their internship at the Gombe Specialists Hospital as pharmacists; nurses, radiographers, physiotherapists and medical laboratory scientists amongst others.
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During the protest that held at the premises of the Specialists Hospital, Gombe, they called on Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya to kindly order the relevant authorities to pay their accrued allowances.
According to them, the failure of the state government to pay their allowances had left many stranded as they could no longer cater for their basic needs.
Our correspondent reports that the protesting interns carried placards with different inscriptions such as; “13 months without pay we can’t continue,” “11 months and still counting, pay our entitlements,” “We are tired of healthcare segregation,” and “Is Governor Inuwa Yahaya aware” among others.
The spokesman of the group, Mr Maxwell Solomon said some of them have not been paid for almost 18 months.
He claimed that they had exhausted all mediums for constructive dialogue with the government, saying they would be left with no other option than to boycott work, “should the government fail to heed their cries by the end of the month.”
Mr Solomon, therefore, called on the governor and relevant stakeholders to look into it as a matter of urgency.
However, in an interview with newsmen, the state’s Commissioner of Health, Dr Habu Dahiru, said the payment procedure has started at the Treasury House and they should be patient.
He added that the protest staged by the health workers is illegal because he was not given prior notice.
“I just heard about it on social media and decided to come and meet them as a father and mentor,” he said.
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