..lament non payment of salaries since May 2023

By Peter Duru, Makurdi

The staff of the Benue Investment and Property Company Limited, BIPC, have appealed to Governor Hyacinth Alia to prevail on the management of the company to resume the payment of their salaries which was stopped in May when the new administration took over governance in the state.

The workers lamented that the non payment of their salaries in the last five months had left them struggling to provide for themselves and their families.

Some of the workers who Thursday spoke to newsmen in Makurdi on condition of anonymity said the situation had become very challenging and no one had come forward to explain why they could not receive their salaries in the last five months.

According to one of the aggrieved staff, “when Governor Alia took over he promised to revitalize the Benue Civil Service and infuse life in the service, it appears that the BIPC staff have been left out in that arrangement.

“Since that take over in May, we have not been paid for five months. We were told that our accounts were frozen.

“The hardship is becoming too much. As we speak, there is no food in my house, my children are crying. It’s two weeks now that we do not even have soap to bath not to talk of food to eat.

“School resumed in September and my children and those of other staff of the company could not resume till today. So, we are appealing to the governor to intervene so that we can get paid before we all die of hunger.

“Additionally, the removal of fuel subsidy by the federal government has further compounded our issue. As prices of food items continue to rise, it becomes even more difficult for us to survive.

“That is why we are drawing the attention of the Governor to our plight because we believe that he might not be aware that we have not received our salaries in the last five months.”