Abiodun Yekini, a former employee of the Nigerian Prisons Service, has appealed to the service to pay his six years salary arrears so that he can use the money to attend to his urgent health problem.When PUNCH METRO visited the 45-year-old man in Ilaro, Yewa South Local Government Area of Ogun State on Saturday, he was on crutches and looked almost twice his age.Yekini told our correspondent that he joined the NPS in 1981 and was posted to Abeokuta. But two years later, his wife died. He was left to take care of their only child, who also later died.He said towards the end of the 1980s he started experiencing some body pains."It started as a peppery pain in my abdomen, later it became excruciatingly painful and blood would come out when I was defecating. Months later, I realised that my feet gradually became very cold. All through the time I was going through this experience, I managed to continue going to work. But I was frequently going to hospital," Yekini said.According to the promotion document which he showed our correspondent, in 1992, Yekini was promoted as an Assistant Inspector of Prisons on Level 7 Step 5.However, when his illness persisted, he was diagnosed as having Acid Peptic Disease.In 1996, the service stopped the payment of his salary and he could not continue with his medication."I was still in the employ of the service. I became continuously weak though. There was nobody I could run to for help. I am an only child of my parents and had no siblings I could approach for help," he told PUNCH METRO.In 2002, when the non-payment of his salary persisted, Yekini opted out of the service on August 1, 2002.Asked if he regularly went to work between 1996 and 2002 when he was not being paid, Yekini said he did, but not frequently."But I was not sacked; I still went to work occasionally. Nobody gave me any explanation as to why my salary was stopped and because my health had deteriorated, I could not do much running around to find out why my salary was not paid," he said.Yekini said after he left the service, he was ejected from his apartment because he could not afford to pay his rent. "I want to plead with the prisons service to pay my salary arrears. If I am paid this money, I would take care of my health first and think of what to do for a living," he said.In 2002, Yekini approached a senator from the community, the late Mr. Afolabi Olabimtan, to use his position to help him.He said the senator brought his issue before the Senate Committee on Establishment and Public Service and the committee decided to intervene.A letter dated December 11, 2002 and signed by Kayode Kolawole on behalf of the chairman of the committee at the time, Senator Olabiyi Durojaye, and addressed to the Comptroller General of Prison, a copy of which was showed to our correspondent stated, "We are able to deduce from the documents available to us that he has been incapacitated from performing his official duties due to the debilitating illness suffered by him."His prayer is that all his outstanding monthly salaries from January 1996 to date be paid. He also expresses his desire to retire from active service from August 1, 2002."He said when the effort did not yield any positive result, some members of the community approached the Olu-Ilaro of Ilaro, Dr. S. Adekanbi, who wrote a letter to the then President Olusegun Obasanjo.The letter addressed to ex-governor Gbenga Daniel was dated September 11, 2006 and titled, "Request for presidential intervention on payment of salary." Yekini, who currently resides in a church, Redeemed Christian Church of God, Judah Parish, Ilaro, said nothing came out of the monarchs letter too. "Even the clothes Im wearing right now were given to me by members of the church. The church also feeds and gives me money occasionally for upkeep," he said.The pastor of the church, Mr. Abiodun Oderinde, said, "We have been taking care of him now for more than a year. We just wish that the government he served for so many years will not forsake him at this point."When contacted on the phone, the Public Relations Officer of the NPS, Mr. Kayode Odeyemi, said Yekini had not lodged a formal complaint.But when he learnt about his sickness, Odeyemi said, "I will delegate someone to look into the issue as soon as possible."An online doctors forum says excessive secretion of acid from the gastric cells lining the stomach and pepsin or a weakened "stomach mucosal defence" are responsible for damage to the delicate lining of the stomach, esophagus and duodenum. It adds that this can result in ulceration, which is known as "acid peptic disease," and could be corrected by surgery.
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