Soldiers reportedly assault DICON employees protesting non-payment in Kaduna
Soldiers have been accused of assaulting one of the protesters at the main entrance of the Defence Industries Corporation of Nigeria in Kaduna State.
PUNCH Metro gathered that the protesters, while chanting solidarity songs during the demonstration on Monday, carried placards to express their grievances against the non-payment of their 2019 minimum wage arrears.
The protesters also expressed anger at the lack of enrolment into the IPPIS scheme, and full promotion arrears for 2020, 2021, and 2022, and called for the payment of their peculiar allowance to cushion the removal of fuel subsidy, among other demands.
During the protest which started around 8.30am, it was learnt that the soldiers deployed to chase the protesters away from the protest ground reportedly assaulted one of the protesters.
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One of the protesters, who spoke anonymously to our correspondent, said the protest was to let the management and the federal government know how workers at DICON were being treated.
“This is because we discovered that all agencies under the Ministry of Defence have been enrolled on IPPIS, only DICON workers have not been captured. But you can see how our member was beaten and another taken into custody by soldiers,” the protester said.
Another protester, who does not want his name mentioned in print for fear of victimisation, urged the federal government to intervene by directing the management to fulfil its demands and to stop victimising workers who voiced out their concerns regarding the mistreatment and denial of their rights.
Contacted, the Public Relations Officer, DICON, Musa Yakubu, in a text message responding to our correspondent’s demand for a reaction, said he was not on the ground but was following up on the situation.
