Two members of the Ondo State civil service have lost their lives as a result of the inability of the state government to pay their salaries for five months, the Joint Negotiating Council of the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress said on Wednesday.
The Chairman of the JNC, Mr. Sunday Adeleye, disclosed this to journalists in Akure, while monitoring the compliance of workers to the strike called by the NLC and TUC as a result of the delayed salaries.
He added that another worker was caught stealing garri in Okitipupa town, Okitipupa Local Government Area of the state last week.
Some workers at the offices of the state's Board of Internal Revenue and the Local Government Service Commission at Alagbaka, Akure, who opted not to participate in the industrial action, which commenced on Wednesday, were flogged and chased out by the monitoring team.
Some of the government secretariats, parastatals, hospitals and public schools visited by our correspondent in the state were under lock and key. Students who showed up for school were asked to go back home.
According to the state chairman of the NLC, Mrs. Bosede Daramola, the strike will not be suspended until the government meets the workers' demands.
She said it would be morally wrong for the government to be watching its workers dying of hunger and ill-health caused by non-payment of salaries.
