Disengaged Enugu indigenes from Abia send SOS to govt

Enugu State indigenes who were recently disengaged from Abia State Public Service, have sent a ``Save-Our-Souls'' message to Governor Sullivan Chime, urging him to reabsorb them into the state civil service.It was reported that more than 100 Enugu indigenes, mainly women, were among non natives recently disengaged from Abia State public service.They were disengaged through a letter with reference number HAS/S.0071/11/132, dated August 25 and signed by the Secretary to Abia State Government.However, a letter signed by Mr Igwe Onyia, on behalf of the affected workers which was made available to newsmen in Aba, said they were asking their state governor to re-absorb them to save them from the embarrassment received from the Abia State government.They added that most of them were widows and breadwinners of their various families, stressing that with the new Abia government's policy, members of their household had been left to suffer untold hardship.``Most of us are widows and even those whose husbands are still alive, due to the state government's clamp down on traders in Aba, their businesses have been grounded and the burden of taking care of our families rests squarely on us,' they said.They said it was unfortunate that they spent their youthful years serving Abia, only to be unceremoniously sacked without any benefit.``We have been treated like lepers in our fatherland. Most of us have spent as much as 30 years in the Abia State public service and now, we are supposed to reap from our years of hard work, we've been asked to go.``About two or three of us are to retire this month and with this sack order, what will they do','' they stated.They said they were sending the SOS to Chime, whom, they described as their Nelson Mandela, to save them from what they called an ``apartheid policy,'' emphasising that they were now stranded in Abia.The workers expressed regret that on several occasions they made representations to their home government over the issue, but that nothing had come out of it and wondered whether they would also be rejected in their state.
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