Two aged men collapsed while undergoing a verification screening exercise, a policy sponsored by Governor Olusegun Mimiko, in Akure, the capital of Ondo State.
Two aged men collapsed while undergoing a verification screening exercise, a policy sponsored by Governor Olusegun Mimiko, in Akure, the capital of Ondo State.
The two men, aged 75 and 77, are among the thousands of pensioners currently undergoing the verification screening exercise.
The State government justified the rigorous screening process as necessary to remove ghost workers on its payroll.
The septuagenarians reportedly collapsed at St. Peters Unity Secondary School along the Oyemekun road, an area designated for pensioners.
Sources told our SaharaReporters correspondent that the two men were rushed to a nearby emergency ambulance.
"The two 'old baba' suddenly fell on the ground after standing on the queue for several hours...Later, the government officials present at the venue came and dumped the two old men inside the van and made a call before they were driven outside the school. I guess they were taken to the State Specialists Hospital for treatment," our source said.
Our correspondent gathered that the hospital contacted the family of the pensioners.
All Progressives Congress (APC) representatives in Ondo State condemned the "dehumanizing" process pensioners are subjected to due to Governor Mimiko’s screening policy.
In a statement signed by the APC’s Director of Media and Publicity, Steve Otaloro, the Party’s leadership charged the screening process as unnecessary stressful for “senior citizens who should be enjoying their retirement".
"We watch with dismay the inhuman treatment being meted out to these citizens, who have not been paid their pension allowances for some time, and have to travel long distances for this verification exercise and we concluded that this exercise is callous, dehumanising, perfidious, and unnecessary,” the statement read.
Mr. Otaloro questioned Governor Mimiko’s motivation to use the verification system, given the administration's claims that it had created a digitized payroll system. The director of media also noted that the Ondo State Governor was still behind in payments for both salaries and pensions for civil service employees, despite a N14.9 billion bailout provided by President Muhammadu Buhari.