Kogi lecturer slumps, dies over non-payment of salary

Tragedy struck yesterday when a lecturer with the Kogi State Polytechnic, Lokoja, Mr. Yakubu Nataala, reportedly slumped and died at his Kogi Poly quarters’ residence in Lokoja, the state capital.

It was gathered that the deceased might have died due to the non-payment of his salary arrears. He was said to have last received his salary in July 2017.However, the Public Relations Officer of the institution, Luke Tijan, told newsmen that the lecturer, who was earlier operated upon as a result of ruptured appendicitis, died as a result of complications arising from the operation.

Tijani, however, confirmed that the deceased was among lecturers who have not received salaries for several months.“Yesterday, we lost one of our lecturers in the polytechnic. Contrary to information that went viral, he never slumped and died but was earlier operated upon of appendicitis. He was among some of the lecturers that has not been paid salaries due to the screening exercise,” the PRO noted.

Cases of civil servants in Kogi dying untimely have been rife in recent months. A doctor at the Kogi State Specialist Hospital, Lokoja, Dr. Chukwudibe Rosemary, slumped and died in July. This is just as another doctor identified as Dr. Idris Nuhu, as well as three nurses and a ward attendant, also slumped while at work and were placed on admission when Rosemary’s incident happened. The incidences were blamed on exhaustion and lack of salary payment.

It would be recalled that on October 21, 2017, a director in the state’s civil service, Mr. Edward Soje, committed suicide by hanging himself on a tree in Lokoja. In a suicide note he left behind, the 54-year-old Grade Level 16 officer said he decided to kill himself as he could not take care of his family due to the fact that he was being owed 11 months’ salary arrears.His suicide came 10 days after his wife gave birth to a set of male triplets in a private hospital in Abuja, after being childless for many years.