Primary school teachers and members of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON) on Thursday stormed the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to protest unpaid allowances.

It will be recalled that the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) and ALGON in the FCT have shut down public primary schools and essential services across the six Area Councils for the past two months over the failure of council chairmen to pay the striking workers.

Chairman of the NUT FCT chapter, Abdullahi Shafa, said the aggrieved workers were protesting the injustice meted out to them by the Area Council chairmen.

Shafa alleged that FCT Minister Nyesom Wike had intervened and approved the sum of N41 billion, but claimed that the council chairmen collected the funds and failed to disburse them.

Also speaking, Jama Di-Meda, Chairman of the National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives, disclosed that health workers had joined the strike, as primary health centers—managed by the Area Councils—have been grounded due to the non-payment of allowances.

“We are here because we are pained and worried about the increasing deaths of women and children in the Area Councils. Hospitals are under lock and key despite Nigeria’s poor health indices,” he said.

“Nigeria ranks second in maternal and child mortality globally. Yet, the primary healthcare facilities the public relies on in the FCT remain shut. No one is saying anything, and no one is documenting the deaths of these poor, innocent Nigerians,” he added.

Meanwhile, FCT Minister Nyesom Wike, speaking after inspecting some projects in the city center, expressed displeasure over the continued strike.

Wike disclosed that he had summoned the Area Council chairmen to address the ongoing crisis involving primary school teachers and other council workers.