Lagos LAMATA Sweepers Protest 5 Months Unpaid Salaries

Sweepers employed by Dafunol International Limited, a contractor engaged by the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA), on Monday staged a peaceful protest over the non-payment of their five months’ salaries.

The sweepers who were in their sweeping kits and holding brooms spoke to the Newsmen in front of Motorways Premises near 7-Up, Ikeja.

They also carried placards with inscriptions appealing to the management of LAMATA to pay them their salaries.

They said that they were employed by the contractor who is into LAMATA Shelter Maintenance to be sweeping LAMATA-constructed bus shelters along Mile 12-Ketu –Ikorodu Road –Tafawa Balewa Square (TBS) axis.

They said that they had not been paid since March 2017.

Some of the inscriptions read: “LAMATA , pay us our salaries ever since the month of February,’’ “LAMATA, why are you denying us our money, you are punishing us.’’

Mrs Musiliu Akindele, 70, one of the sweepers said that their employer was initially paying each sweeper N10,000 per month before it was increased to N15,000.

“We were only paid for January and February. Our employer owes each of us five months’ salary arrears.

“Most of our children had been sent out of their schools over unpaid fees,’’ she said.

Akindele said that before now, their employer used to supply them brooms to work with.

"But now, we are responsible for them. With the non-payment of our salaries; we cannot afford them and this is affecting our service," she said, adding that: “Each broom costs N200 and now that the salary is not paid, we have no means to buy them to work."