Activities at the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital (UATH), Gwagwalada, were disrupted yesterday as contract staff protested over the nonpayment of six months salaries.
The aggrieved workers, comprising of security guards, porters and cleaners under ICON Nigeria Ltd attached to the hospital, blocked the main gate leading into the hospital demanding for their unpaid salaries.
They carried placards with inscriptions such as “Pay us our money”, “Are we not Nigerians”, “Some of us are widows”, “Our children are out of school”, “Buhari and minister of health must hear this”.
One of the protesters, Joy Ukele, said all their complaints to the management of the hospital over unpaid six months salaries have yielded no result.
The protesters barricaded the main entrance of the hospital, preventing people from coming in and going out.
Our reporter observed that the protest also resulted to gridlock along the Gwagwalada-Dobi-Izom road on which the hospital sits.
The spokesman of the group, Mr. Leonard Mbanile, said they will resist any attempt to stop them from the protest until their salary arrears were paid.
“Our salary is N15,000 only for six months so they should pay us because our children are dying of hunger,” he said.
The protesting workers vowed to continue with the protest after they gave the hospital management one-day ultimatum to clear their outstanding allowances.
Addressing the protesters on behalf of the Chief Medical Director (CMD) of the hospital, Chairman of the hospitals’ medical advisory committee, Mr. Nicholas Bamlong, admitted that the hospital management is owing them but appealed to them to be patient.
He said the management will pay them as soon as possible.
