Zamfara civil servants resort to Okada, tea selling over ghost worker syndrome

By Salisu Zakari Maradun

Hundreds of civil servants in Zamfara state who have been declared as ghost workers and salaries have been with held for several months may lose their lives to hunger and hardship.

Checks revealed that there are over 400 workers across the state from various sectors whose salaries have been stopped for over four months as they have been declared ghost workers by the government despite series of verifications they have undergone.

According to the checks, as a result of the unhealthy development, some of them are currently sick, while others have resorted to begging from one house to another looking for what to eat.

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Several demonstrations were staged by the affected workers aimed at compelling the government to respond but to no avail as the governor refused to listen to them.

Many of them expressed their dismay over the action of the government, describing it as ruthlessness, while some described it as insensitive.

“I have been working for the past 25 years today and worked with almost three governors and non of them declared me as ghost worker until now,” stated Malam Saidu Umar, a worker in Gusau capital of the sate.

Umar who was weeping when he was narrating the hardship he still undergoes as a result of the problem, stated also that he has eight children and two wives and solely depended on the monthly salary to take care of his family, and now have nothing to do or to give to his family adding, “perhaps the governor wants us to go and steal, because as human being we must live”.

Another victim who gave his name as Kabiru Isah, told our correspondent that they were about 148 from their place of work and none of them was given a single kobo for almost four months and they have even gone to the extent of meeting the governor, but that did not also work.

“when we met with governor and told him our problem, he pretended that he was not in the picture of what happened. Can you imagine that a governor who is also claiming to have known everything and number one citizen to say that he did not know what transpired, is this not a shameful thing,” he asked.

Many of the victims of the injustice have resorted to joining one petty business or the other to survive, such as okada, tea selling and shoe shining among others.