Civilian staff at defence corporation protest non-payment of allowances

The civilian staff in the Defence Industries Corporation of Nigeria (DICON), Kaduna have protested the non-payment of their allowances.

DICON is a state-run defence corporation and is operated by the Nigerian armed forces.

It is responsible for the production of defence equipment and civilian products.

The aggrieved workers alleged that they have been harassed for demanding what is due to them.

The workers staged a protest on Monday at a factory in the Kakuri area of Kaduna, claiming that they have not been paid their “peculiar” allowances for six months and arrears of minimum wage since 2019 as well as promotion arrears from 2020 to 2022.

One of the workers said soldiers were mobilised to stop the protest after they converged on the factory at 8:00 am to demand their allowances.

“We discovered that all agencies under the ministry of defence have been enrolled into IPPIS, only DICON staff have not been captured,” the worker said.

“One of our members was beaten by soldiers and another was taken into custody by soldiers because we demanded our rights. The management ordered the soldiers to deal with us.”

The protesting workers asked the federal government to intervene by directing the management of DICON to respond to their demands.

When contacted, Musa Yakubu, DICON public relations officer, said: “Sorry sir, I am not on the ground, thank you”.