Sacked LG workers beg Ortom to recall them

Retrenched LG workers have appealed to Governor Samuel Ortom to revisit their dismissal with a view to reinstating them.
Making the appeal under the auspices of the Forum of 2012 Benue State Local Government Retrenched Employees, the group urged the governor to recall the workers before the full implementation of the recently approved local government autonomy.
“The affected workers have been facing serious economic hardship due to the stoppage of their salaries since June 2015,” one of the affected staff averred, while speaking to jamesibechi.com on phone.
Another affected worker, Comrade Abel Oche Ankeli, lamented deeply the ordeals of the laid off workers.
According to Ankeli, “ every single affected staff in the umbrella of 2012 employees across the state, gave several instances where few of such staff have died due to hardship; several others who I knew dropped out of school; children of many have died and many others are currently groaning in miserable conditions.”
Ankeli passionately appealed to Governor Samuel Ortom on behalf of the forum “to display his great love for the wellbeing of Benue people and recall back to service this group of persons who are dying in silence for too long.”
When asked on why the workers were retrenched, Ankeli insinuated that “it was politically motivated, adding that the aim was to punish some perceived dissidents among the workforce.
Ankeli also adduced the retrenchment of the LG workers to then economic meltdown, as it were, in 2015.
As part of the way out of the situation, Ankeli recommended that the Local Government Service Commission should be mandated to properly screen the affected staff using the various Local Government approval letters and the list attached, to ascertain the authentic.
He said the genuine workers are less than 2,000 across the state.
Ankeli who indicted DGSAs, council chairmen and other senior local government officials for causing their hardship by carrying out illegal recruitment(the Ghost workers saga) in the first instance thereby confusing the state government expressed optimism that there could still be solution.
He advised that, “to get the authentic staff, each local government should be screened using the legal document which is the approval letter.”
On whether the current administration made any effort to address the plight of the affected LG staff, Ankeli said that series of screening were carried out but the true report never got to the appropriate Government quarters.
He accused some influential LG officials of sweeping the report under the carpet.
Ankeli, however, said: “ the good news now is that most of such influential officials have retired from service and so now is the right time to get it right and addressed the plight of the workers wrongly retrench.”