Date: 2016-06-30

Scores of members of the Nigerian Union of Local Government Employees in Kwara State on Wednesday protested in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital; over unpaid salaries.

The protest, which was earlier scheduled to take place at the palace of the Emir of Ilorin, Alhaji Ibrahim Sulu-Gambari, was later rescheduled to take off at the Nigeria Labour Congress secretariat, near the state High Court, along Lajorin Street, Ilorin.

Attempts later by some NULGE leaders to address the LG workers and dissuade them from going on with the protest to the Government House were swiftly rejected by the angry LG employees.

Some of them, who were visibly enraged by the attempts, blocked their state President, Alhaji Yusuf Saliu, from going into the NLC secretariat. They coerced him into leading them on the protest.

Saliu, in an interview with journalists, alleged that the workers were being owed no fewer than six months salary arrears.

He stated that they had made concerted but futile efforts and consultations with relevant government functionaries for the payment of his members' salaries.

The protesters matched from the NLC secretariat, through the Ahmadu Bello Way, chanting war songs. They carried placards with different inscriptions. They lamented their experience and deplored the non-payment of their salaries. Some of the placards read, 'Enough of starvation',' Where is LG IGR?', 'Where is LG allocations' and 'Save LG workers.'

The protesters also defied three separate blockades of the police, led by a very senior police officer, to match to the Government House. Punch correspondent gathered that the workers had insisted on having the Kwara State Governor, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed, to address.

While the protest was going on, the Secretary to the Kwara State Government, Alhaji Sola Gold, in company with Ahmed's Special Adviser on Labour, Mr. Bisi Fakayode and Ahmed's Special Adviser on Security, Mr. Amusa Bello, appealed to protesters to be orderly so that Ahmed would come out and address them. But the Kwara State Command of the Nigeria Police Force arrested no fewer than 10 members of the NULGE on the protest.

However, the workers remained noisy, causing the government officials to go back to the Government House. It was learnt that the protesting workers continued to stay on the road, near the Government House gate, insisting that Ahmed should address them.

A source informed our correspondent that police officers, who were monitoring the protest, were later directed to ask the protesters to disperse. The source said that police used tear gas cannisters to disperse the unyielding protesters from the Government House gate and arrested nofewer than 10 of them.

The state Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Ajayi Okasanmi, in a telephone interview with our correspondent, confirmed the arrest of 10 protesters.

He, however, said he could not confirm that the police used tear gas on the protesters as he claimed that he was not there at the time of dispersing them.

"Ten of the protesters were arrested. We asked them to go after they have achieved what they have come to do. But they remained and police men were asked to disperse them. When it was becoming violent, we arrested some of them. We arrested 10."