Emergency Health Workers that served in insurgency affected Local Government Areas of Borno have urged for Federal and Borno state governments to assist them get their outstanding three months allowance.
The over 300 health workers were recruited under the Health and Nutrition Emergency Response Project (HNERP) supported by Federal and Borno governments.
A statement on Saturday by the affected health workers signed by their Chairman, Pharm. Isaac Nsoha, and Secretary, Dr Yusuf Usman, said the project was for one year but when the one year lapsed, they were asked by the state Director of the project, Dr Babagana Shehu to continue which they did for three months but were yet to be paid for the three months.
They said Shehu told them to continue claiming that the state government was talking to federal government on extending the project to three years, but after three months without pay they had to stop.
“We are, the ad-hoc staff of Health and Nutrition Emergency Response Project (HNERP) of Borno state, a project set up under the auspices of the Federal Ministry of Health in collaboration with the Borno State Ministry of Health to respond to the Nutritional and Health Challenges cum Emergencies occasioned as a result of the Insurgent activities in Borno state.
“We are made up of 33 teams in which each team is comprised of 10 member team. It is with a heavy heart that we bring to the public that no payment has been made on our account since the assumption of duties. It is now Eight Months, and there has been no indication of the remuneration payments.
“The first contract expired last year around the 30th of November, 2019, and we were asked to continue working by the State coordinator of the project in the person of Dr Babagana Shehu; of which we were supervised throughout the three months, before we were asked to submit our Jackets on the 1st of March, 2020, that the program has been stopped.”
They noted that they recipients of their services were mostly people leaving in Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps who are in dire need of the intervention, adding that its not fair to deny health workers who made sacrifice to work in such volatile areas of their entitlements.
When contacted on the development, the state Commissioner of Health, Dr Salihu Kwaya-Bura, said the ministry was making effort to address the issue and that a communication on the issue is before the state governor.
The emergency health workers were made up of doctors, nurses, pharmacists, medical records personnel, nutritionists, community health emergencies workers, medical laboratory scientists and technicians.
