Some members of the Badagry Chieftancy Committee comprising High Chiefs and Baales have criticised the non-payment of their salaries and allowances.
Their salaries, SUNDAY PUNCH gathered, had not been paid for two months while they were owed allowances for eight months.
Our correspondent learnt that the chiefs, last Tuesday, blocked the entrance of the Badagry Local Government by sitting there and putting traditional leaves on the gate.
The aggrieved chiefs were said to have prevented movement of people and vehicles in and out of the secretariat until the council chairman, Mr. Moses Dosu, came to address them.
One of the chiefs (name not given) who said he could not comment officially on the issues until a collective decision was reached, confirmed the protest. He added that they were also not happy because the council chairman and his executives treated them shabbily.
He said, “I am one of the seven white cap chiefs in Badagry and I was in the office of the Secretary to the Local Government and he was addressing me with his legs on top of his table.”
According to him, the chiefs embarked on a protest after the council chairman refused to heed their call that their salaries and allowances should be paid.
Our correspondent learnt that the Lagos State Government, through its Ministry for Chieftaincy Affairs, had intervened in the matter to restore peace. The government had, last Wednesday, called for a meeting in Alausa where the chiefs were allegedly told to be patient with the council chairman because of the dire financial situation in the state.
The chairman alleged, however, that the protest was politically motivated since it was not only in his domain that chiefs were being owed salaries.
Dosu said, “In some local councils, chiefs are owed five months and these are places where there are just nine or 10 chiefs. I have 30 recognized chiefs and we have called them to explain that the financial situation in the state is tight for now.”
He said that he and the councillors had also not received their salaries for five months. “By the end of this month and next month (July) all will be back to normal again,” he said.