Street Sweepers Protest 4-Month Unpaid ‘N5000’ Salary in Calabar
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Street Sweepers Protest 4-Month Unpaid ‘N5000’ Salary in Calabar
By Kaosara Olayemi Oladimeji
Women who work as street sweepers in Calabar Municipality and Calabar South Local Government Areas of Cross River have protested over non-payment of their stipends for about four months.
The women, who staged the protest at the entrance of the Governor’s Office in Calabar on Tuesday, carried placards with inscriptions such as “pay us our money,” “we are tired of working without pay”.
Speaking to newsmen, Nkoyo Effiong, the leader of the protesters, who is 60 years old, said they had not been paid for four months and it was tiring.
According to her, some of them are paid N5,000 monthly while others receive N10,000, and those called “wreckers” are paid N15,000 per month.
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Emana Cobham, another elderly woman, noted that they took so much risk in the course of sweeping the streets.
Cobham said they were expected to be at duty posts as early as 4:30 in the morning to sweep their portion.
Worryingly, according to them, this is not the first time street sweepers in Calabar have protested over non-payment of their stipends.
In 2022, aged workers, mostly in their 70s and 60s, took to the streets twice over a similar issue.
