The aggrieved contractors disclosed that some of their colleagues had died in the course of pursuing the money owed them by the ministry, which ran into several millions of naira.
Aggrieved contractors on Wednesday stormed the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, blocking the entrance to the minister's office to demand payment for contracts they had carried out for the ministry.
The aggrieved contractors disclosed that some of their colleagues had died in the course of pursuing the money owed them by the ministry, which ran into several millions of naira.
According to them, the bank loans they obtained to execute the various contracts had accumulated, thereby causing them problems. They added that the banks were after them already.
One of the contractors said many of them had not been paid by the ministry for work done since 2018.
"We are here to take our destiny in our own hands because, since 2018, we were given the contracts we bid for, which we also executed. We have been coming here for payment with the certificate of completion issued to us by the same ministry.
"The ministry, based on whatever consideration, has done selective payments, leaving some of us out. We have met with both the minister and the Permanent Secretary, and nothing has been done,” he said.