Sit-at-home: Uzodimma threatens Imo civil servants, says anyone who miss work will not be paid

Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo has directed that civil servants in the state who do not show up for work on Mondays should not be paid.

Declan Emelumba, the commissioner for information and strategy in Imo, disclosed the governor’s directive in a statement issued on Tuesday.

Part of the statement read: “The Government of Imo State has observed with dismay that some civil servants, for inexplicable reasons, absent themselves from duties, especially on Mondays.

“This is totally unacceptable, moreover since such civil servants neither obtain permission nor have authorisation of their superiors to abstain from duty, thereby making their conduct illegal and unprofessional.

“Consequently, the government will henceforth view such a rascal conduct as a direct challenge to its authority, which will attract sanctions.

“Going forward, His Excellency the governor of Imo State Sen Hope Uzodimma, has directed that any civil servant who absents himself/herself from duty on Mondays or any other day for that matter will lose his/her salary in addition to other punishments that may be recommended against him/her.

“Consequently, permanent secretaries and heads of parastatals and heads of agencies of government are hereby directed to immediately commence daily roll calls of workers to ensure that those who disobey this order suffer the consequences.”

Mondays are observed as sit-at-home days in the southeast. Authorities have made efforts to stop the act but to no avail.

In 2021, the Independent Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) ordered a Monday sit-at-home in the five southeast states until Nnamdi Kanu, its leader, is released from the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS).

IPOB subsequently suspended the directive after several months, but hoodlums have since hijacked it and enforced the sit-at-home protests forcefully.