Kogi civil servant, David Haruna, slumps, dies in office

A civil servant in the Kogi State Ministry of Education, Haruna David, yesterday slumped and died in the office.

David, a deputy director in the quality control department of the ministry, according to a source, died on his way to the noon mandatory clock-out time for civil servants, a practice introduced by the administration of Governor Yahaya Bello.

The Guardian gathered that David was earlier in the day full of life as he exchanged banters with colleagues.

He was said to have complained that in the last few weeks, it had been a herculean task meeting his family obligations, and that he had to beg from neighbours to feed his family with pap the previous night.

Meanwhile, it was further gathered that David was last paid in February 2018 with half salary that could not afford him to pay his backlogs of accumulated bills.

Until his death, David was said to be a hardworking person and diligent in his work.

Investigation indicated that workers on the payroll of the state government took their last salary in January, while others got theirs in February.

When The Guardian visited the Ministry of Education shortly after the death of David, a member of staff of the ministry, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said death of civil servants in the state owing to delayed payment of salary is becoming alarming.

However, state Chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Mr. Onuh Edoka, said the union had directed one of its members to investigate the cause of David’s death before the leaders of the union can make their position known.

It would be recalled that a civil servant in the state on the cadre of a director, Edward Soje, committed suicide while another from Basa Local Council also took his life.