Protesting Cross River Sweepers Litter Gov. Ayede’s Office With Garbage

The Cross Rivers State Governor, Professor Ben Ayade’s office was on Monday littered with garbage by protesting city sweepers, who are owned four months unpaid salary.

The protesters, numbering about 100, invaded the Cross River state capital, housing the State House and dumped garbage at the front of the Governor’s office, on Monday morning.

According to the protesting women, the last time they were paid their monthly stipends was in December of 2022.

It was gathered that the protest caused major traffic around the government House on Leopard Road.

The aggrieved workers spread the debris they pulled out from the wasted bin and other garbage and poured them from the first gate, where the governor always used and to the second gate, used by others government officials.

The protest created work for policemen, and Department Security Services, DSS, personnel who were stopping passers-by and journalists from taking pictures and making videos

It was gathered that some people had their videos and photos deleted by security officials.

“The salary they pay me is just 10,000 naira. Some of my colleagues collect even less, yet they have been unable to pay us.

“We decided to express our displeasure today by littering front of the governor’s office with refuse, because all the appeal to our employer seems to be irrelevant and this government is leaving in a less than 35 days.

“They should just pay us; some of us are widows and have kids to take care of.

“We use the monthly stipends to buy vegetable, resell, while some sell ‘table market’ at Marian and Watt markets. We are barely surviving,” one of the protesters was quoted as saying.

According to another sweeper, their action was to get the attention of the governor, in order for him to know the situation of their case should in case their managers were lying to them concerning their allowance.

“We are suffering. Many are dying, you can imagine, living on N8, 500 as a widow with five children.

“We are appealing to Professor Ben Ayade to help us. We did not mean to be irrational, but we want our plight to be taken seriously because if nothing was done we will come back again,” she said.