Lokoja — Hundreds of Kogi State civil servants, yesterday, stormed churches in Lokoja and other towns in the state, to seek God’s intervention in the stand-off between them and the state government over some demands.

The prayer session was a follow up to Saturday 16 January special Islamic prayers organised by the leadership of the organised labour at the Lokoja township stadium.

The Islamic prayer which lasted for hours featured recitation of the whole Quran and was presided over by Sheikh Ibrahim Yakubu who stated that it was a great offence not to fulfill promises.

The prayers were organised by the Joint Public Service Negotiating Council, JPSNC; Trade Union Congress, TUC and the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC.

At St. Immaculate Catholic Church Cathedral, Bishop Martin Olorunmolu, while praying on the workers’ 11 prayer points, prayed God to touch the mind of government officials so that they can fulfill their promises to the people of the state.

Olorunmolu, who is the Catholic Bishop of Lokoja and Chairman of the state chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, prayed for the quick and amicable resolutions of the issues at stake, adding that the state and the workers actually need prayers.

At the Foundation Faith Church also in Lokoja, Bishop Jide Ayangbesan, prayed God to take control of the affairs of the state and save the state from another round of labour unrest.
He urged the workers to continue to pray to God over their plight, saying that one day, God will answer them.

Speaking with newsmen after the church service, the Chairman of JPSNC, Mr James Odaudu, said that confusion and frustrations forced the workers to seek God’s intervention.

“We are confused. We do not know what to do again. We have exhausted all avenues to let government have a change of attitude in its dealings with the workers but no progress. It is our hope that God will touch the mind of the government,” he said.

Odaudu said that agreements reached after several years of peaceful negotiations with the state government were yet to be implemented.

He listed these to include the non-payment of salaries to more than 2,000 genuinely employed workers since April 2009, saying that affected workers were those deployed from Kwara and Benue states at the creation of Kogi State in 1991.