Street sweepers in Ekiti have said that the N5,000 salary currently being paid them is not enough to take care of them monthly.

They appealed to Governor Kayode Fayemi to come to their rescue by paying the minimum wage to them.

The street sweepers who are on the government’s payroll, staged a protest on Tuesday against the poor monthly remuneration paid them.

The protesters displayed placards with inscriptions that read “Stop Paying Lip Service to Our Plight,” “N30,000 is the acceptable Minimum Wage By Law” “Governor  Kayode Fayemi, Please Come to our Rescue,” “N5,000 is not acceptable again,” among others.

The leader of the group, Titilayo Faweya, said that they had to embark on the protest to demand what is right and just for their members.

Mrs Faweya said that their action was a result of the delay in the fulfilment of the promise made by the governor during his re-election campaign in 2018.

She said that the immediate past government slashed their salaries but Mr Fayemi promised that he would increase their monthly take-home if elected into office.

“We are not happy. We are not being treated well. We are not fighting Governor  Kayode Fayemi or disgracing his government, but we are compelled to act this way because we do not want to die in silence.

“We are collecting the sum of N5,000 monthly. A measure ‘kongo’ of cassava flakes (garri) is selling for N700 and that of rice is N1,000. How can many of us cope with these terrible situations?

“Many of us are widows. In fact, we are really suffering. They promised that things would change, but we are not seeing the signal.

“All we are getting are promises upon promises. It is time for us to get what is commensurate to our efforts in terms of payment,” she said.

Another member of the group, Nike Alatise, said that they started the street-sweeping job in 2003 with N2,500 monthly salary before it was increased to N5,000.

“Many of us have spent close to 20 years on this job. When Governor Fayemi was campaigning, he promised that he would look into our welfare.

“Our job is tedious and things are difficult for us. To survive is not easy. What we want is N30, 000 monthly that is in tandem with the N30, 000 minimum wage already signed into law in Ekiti,” she said.

The Commissioner for Environment, Iyabo Fakunle-Okiemen, said that she had taken note of all the demands of the protesting workers and would present them to Governor Fayemi.

(NAN)