On Thursday, Nigerian police used tear gas to disperse a group of local contractors who had gathered peacefully at Area 11, Garki, Abuja. The protest took place at the office of Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nyesom Wike. The contractors, operating under the association of Indigenous Contractors in FCTA, claim they are owed over N5 billion for completed projects that have been certified for payment by the Federal Capital Territory Administration.
One of the protesters revealed that the police crackdown was directed by Minister Wike. He also pointed out that this was the second time in a month that they had taken to the streets to demand payment for their completed work.
“Today’s incident began when we assembled at the gate. Shortly after we started our peaceful protest, armed policemen arrived, firing tear gas at us. They arrested and brutalized some of us, forcing everyone to flee for safety,” the protester recounted.
Speaking to SaharaReporters, the contractors’ spokesperson, Mr. Andy Kor, explained that they were only there to demand payment for their completed jobs, as previous attempts to get the authorities to release the funds had failed. He emphasized that all the projects had been completed and certified, yet no payments had been made.
Kor added, “We are contractors working with the FCTA. We have been doing these jobs even before Wike came into office. When he arrived, he suspended payments to review the projects. We were patient, but after a while, with no communication on when we would be paid, we protested last December, and we were finally paid. However, after being given new contracts, it’s now eight months later, and we haven’t received any payments.”
He continued by describing the contractors’ efforts to resolve the issue. They had written letters to the minister’s office, met with his Chief of Staff and the Head of Service, Mr. Atang, who promised to discuss the payments with the minister. Unfortunately, no progress was made.
“Given the lack of response, we decided to gather at the minister’s gate, hoping to meet with him directly. We even informed the Commissioner of Police and the Director of DSS, notifying them of our intentions to hold a peaceful protest. Our letters were acknowledged, but we received no response,” Kor explained.
On the day of the protest, the contractors were aware that Wike was preparing to travel to China for two weeks. “When we saw him, he refused to address us and just went into his office. After waiting for two hours, the police were sent to tear gas us and disperse the crowd,” Kor added.
The total amount the contractors are demanding for the completed projects is over N5 billion. They had individually submitted their bills to ensure the figures were accurate and transparent, in case there were discrepancies with what the government had on record.
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