Aged women and widows who sweep public roads and streets in Calabar, Cross River State capital, on Wednesday, barricaded the roads in protest over six months’ unpaid salaries.
The women, who sang solidarity songs, blocked the roads with logs and waste.
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The women who said the last time they each received the N5,000 salary with a deduction of N500 each was in June 2021, noting that they made several appeals to their employers to no avail.
Mrs Atim Ekpenyong, who is a widow with four children and has worked for several years as a street sweeper said, “It is not the best of jobs, but we still do it with joy. Why then are we still being owed for as much as six months, especially at this time that things are very hard in the country?
“We know that the government is releasing money, but we are not getting it. It seems there is something they are not telling us.
“We go through hell while doing our job, and many of us are being raped in the early hours, especially where there are no street lights; it is sad.”
The Executive Secretary of the Calabar Urban Development Agency (CUDA), Engr Joe-Mary Ekeng, said it was the Ministry of Environment that handled their matters.
Meanwhile, the Commissioner for Environment, Mfon Bassey, said he would speak on the matter later.
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