Retrenched PHCN staff lament unpaid gratuities in Bauchi
Samuel Luka, Bauchi
A group of retrenched staff of the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) at the weekend staged a peaceful protest over the non-payment of their gratuities and salary arrears.
During the protest in Bauchi, the former employees of the defunct power company carried placards bearing different inscriptions decrying that more than five years after the privatization of PHCN they have not been paid their entitlements despite series of agreements and promises between their union and the federal government.
President of the group, Musa Gidado said the development has made many of their colleagues and friends to commit suicide as many of them could no longer afford to cater for their family.
“So many expectations of the payment of our gratuities from government have failed us, some of us have died in the process leaving many children and widows behind.
We can no longer provide for our families. The hardship, hunger, depression, poverty and disappointment is enough. The government should do the needful,” he said.
Gidado reeled out their outstanding benefits to include, the non -payment of some disengaged staff, non-payment of 7.5 per cent pension component, non-payment of 16 –month salary arrears as a result of the delay in handing over from July 2012 to October 2013 and the non-payment of 10 per cent equity share allotted to disengaged PHCN staff among others.
A protester, Jamilu Shehu, who has lost the use of his right arm said, “I cry every day when I remember my right arm. This is not how I was born, but my job made me this way.
The day it happened, I was on duty working on a transformer before a spark struck my arm off but to my greatest surprise, I was told verbally on the sick bed that there was a list of retrenched workers.
“I found my name there and that was the end of it all. After that, I have not been paid one naira. I spent months in hospital while shouldering the medical bills myself.
They promised to refund them but up till today, I have not seen anything. It is my family and friends who are helping me to feed my four children and wife. We are calling on President Muhammadu Buhari to intervene.”
For Taofik Ahmed, an indigene of Osun state who started work with PHCN in October 2002 but lost a finger and right leg, said that he was abandonment despite the termination of his appointment owing to the privatization exercise and the injury he sustained while on duty.
“They said in a letter that my services are no longer needed while giving my injuries as an excuse that I may not be performing like before. Honesty, they didn’t give me anything for treatment. I spent five months in hospital. Now, I don’t have a job and they have refused to pay us our entitlements,” he added.
