Hammed Shittu in Ilorin.
The 89 staff disengaged from service in Kwara Hotels, Ilorin over two years ago have appealed to Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrasaq, to reinstate them in order to reduce unemployment in the state.
Their spokesman, Mohammed Ochennika, in an interview with journalists in Ilorin recently, said none of those affected were given a query, not even sack letter before the detachment of anti-riot mobile police officers were asked to prevent them from entering Kwara Hotels.
He recalled that on May 26, 2017 the contingent of anti-riot mobile police officers were stationed at the gates with the list of their names and they were there for three weeks to ensure that they were permanently put in abeyance from Kwara Hotels.
Ochennika said their perceived offence was that they agitated for improved facilities of Kwara Hotels by the management at a time the structures were crumbling so that the hotel could remain in business.
He added: “Those who didn’t complain were retained while those of us the union leaders and other concerned staff were selected and crudely turned back at the gate without any sack letter.
“In my 21 years in service I received query letter once simply because I refused to do double shift instead of one and I was pardoned then being a union leader.”
Ochennika said since about two years and four months when they were asked to go away only 20 per cent of them have found jobs to do in order to feed their families while others are practically unemployed till now.
He added: “We have lost our loved ones to this struggle because we couldn’t afford money to purchase drugs while our members have been sent out of their rented apartments by landlords and our children sent out of schools.
“Many of us have returned to their villages because of these challenges so we are begging the present administration to reduce unemployment in the state and consider us.
“The new government should reinstate us and reduce unemployment in the state. We are ready to go back and we want the state government to consider us because we were not disengaged its two years four months ago now.”
