‘Pay us before you leave office’, Cross River Street Sweepers tells Ayade

Street sweepers in Calabar, Cross River State, protested at the governor’s office on Tuesday after their salaries were not paid.

“We’ve come to inform the governor that we have not been paid for four months.” They refused to pay us for six months in 2015, and now they want to pay us for four months,” the ladies stated through their 60-year-old leader, Madam Nkoyo Etim Effiong.

The sweepers, who were comprised of elderly women, carried out the protest in the presence of security personnel who attempted furiously to break up the action.

Narrating their plight to newsmen, Effiong said they had not been paid for four months.

Effiong explained that some sweepers earned N5,000 while others earned N10,000.

“Those of us who are sweepers are paid differently. There are those who collect N5,000, N8,000 and N10,000 monthly. There are those we call “wreckers” and they collect N15,000 a month. We just want them to give us our money before they leave office,” she said.

Speaking about the risk involved in the job, another elderly woman, Emana Cobham, said, “By 4.30am, you must go to your duty post, sweep your portion, which is always a long stretch, before day breaks,” adding that many sweepers had been killed by motorists, some raped while others lost their phones and other valuables to robbers.