Contractors who said they supplied agricultural inputs to the Benue State Government in the 2024 cropping season but are yet to be paid have staged a peaceful protest in Makurdi.
The contractors, led by Alhaji Garuba Mailemu, claimed they have not been paid for products supplied over a year ago and are demanding immediate payment by the state government.
According to Mailemu, they decided to embark on the protest after the death of one of their colleagues, who they say died from frustration and hardship caused by the delayed payment of his contract fees.
The protesters carried placards and posters with messages of anger, grief and calls for justice.
Some of the placards read: ‘We are businessmen with families to feed. Pay us our money now, Mr. Governor’, ‘We transacted with a priest who should be compassionate, not a beast who is ruthless. Pay us our money and redeem your reputation’, ‘Stop killing indigenous businesses. Delaying our money is a security threat to our lives. Gov. Alia, pay us now!’.
Speaking with journalists, Mailemu lamented that it had been difficult for the contractors to take care of their families.
He also lamented that some of them had died in the process of trying to get their entitlements.
Another contractor, Akosu Lubem, told journalists that they have come to plead with Gov Hyacinth Alia to pay them, noting that most of them borrowed money from financial institutions in order to make the supplies.
They vowed to continue protesting until their demands are met.
