By Chidi Nkwopara

OWERRI—Another round of labour unrest is brewing in Imo State, following what some aggrieved persons termed “the planned compulsory retirement of local government workers, by the state government”.

Some of the aggrieved workers, who spoke to Vanguard yesterday, on strict grounds of anonymity, confirmed that the State Local Government Service Commission has started distributing letters of compulsory retirement to staff of the various local governments.

While the most affected staff of the local governments are of the health department, Vanguard also gathered that “the retirement letters have been handed over to the transition committee chairmen that attended the last Joint Allocation Accounts Committee in Owerri.”

A government official, who pleaded anonymity, explained that the principal targets are health workers whose salaries are fat.

“You are aware that government is recruiting fresh workers into the local government system. From each of the retired staff’s fat salary, government can conveniently pay three new workers”, the government official said.

The official however said that government would not hesitate to ease out aged personnel that have continuously falsified and doctored their documents so as to remain perpetually in office.

“Meanwhile, the transition committee chairmen have been instructed to immediately drop the names of the affected workers from the local government payroll”, the official said.