Operative of the Nigerian police on Thursday used tear gas to disperse local contractors who were peacefully protesting at the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister’s office in Area 11, Garki, Abuja.
The contractors, under the association of Indigenous Contractors in FCTA, are allegedly owed over ₦5 billion for completed and certified projects by the Federal Capital Territory Administration.
According to Saharareporters, one of the protesters claimed that the police crackdown was ordered by FCT Minister Nyesom Wike.
He noted that this was their second protest within a month over the non-payment for their executed contracts.
“The stage for today’s incident was set when we contractors converged at the gate. No sooner had we begun the peaceful protest than armed police men arrived the scene and started shooting tear gas us, while arresting and brutalising others even as we scampered for our dear lives in all directions,” the protester said.
Speaking to SaharaReporters, a spokesman for the contractors, Andy Kor, said they were simply seeking payment for completed jobs after several unsuccessful attempts to engage the authorities.
Kor explained, “We are contractors in FCTA; we have been working and doing contract jobs before the coming of Wike. We are many and have an association called indigenous contractors in FCTA.
“When Wike came and met the jobs done, he temporarily suspended payments and after we asked for the reason, we were told he wanted to study and know what was on the ground. We waited for a while but as we were not told when we would be paid, we protested and we were paid last December.”
Kor added that despite writing multiple letters to the minister’s office, meeting with the Chief of Staff, and even informing the Commissioner of Police and the DSS about their intent to protest peacefully, they received no response.
“After then, they started giving us jobs to do again. Behold eight months after, no payments. We started demanding our money by writing letters to the minister’s office but we were not getting any response. We went to see his chief of staff and head of service Mr Atang who told us he had the minister’s mandate to hold meetings with us over the payment, but after back and forth with the head of service who promised to discuss with the minister, there was no headway.
“So we resolved to gather at the minister’s gate to see him since all letters to see him failed. In fact, we wrote to the commissioner of police and director of the DSS (Department of State Services) to intimate them to intervene and we told them we wanted to hold a peaceful protest for our payments. We have copies to show that our letters were acknowledged by those officers but no response too.
“Yesterday, we decided to gather at the gate since we know Wike would be travelling to China for two weeks and if he is not around, nothing happens in the FCTA. To our surprise, he came and saw us but refused to address us. He just went into his office.”
He further disclosed that the total amount owed to all the contractors exceeds ₦5 billion. The contractors compiled their outstanding bills independently, suspecting that the figures given to the minister may not reflect the actual amounts owed.
 Minister’s office in Area 11, Garki, Abuja.){kind=link}