The aggrieved nurses (claimants) in a suit No. NICN/ MKD/2016 filed on their behalf individually by Pepe Dajo Esq, are further asking the court to restore their names on the payroll with immediate effect till October 2017, when they are due for compulsorily retirement. Similarly, the claimants are asking the court to direct the board to pay them their monthly salary arrears and allowances from February 2016 to the date of judgment or October 2017, as the case may be. Counsel to the claimants, while speaking with The Guardian, said his clients, who are all set 6 graduates of School of Nursing and Midwifery, Makurdi, were offered both temporary and permanent letters of appointments as staff nurses on grade level 7 step 1 dating 11th/ 03/1982 and wondered how his clients were suddenly summoned by the defendant only to be verbally informed that their time in service had expired since November 1, 2014. Mr. Pepe said by both the letters of temporary and permanent appointments issued to the claimants in 1982, it is only logical and with regard to the pension and gratuity law of the state, that his clients are only required to go on compulsory retirement upon reaching 60 years of age or attaining 35 years of service with the defendant. The counsel, who faulted the arbitrary removal of the claimants names from the payroll from February, said by implication, it means that they will lose the five months arrears of salaries being owed civil servants by the Benue state government since December, 2015. While asserting that many members of set 6 of the school that got employment with the board on the same date with the sacked nine members were not listed to proceed on retirement, the claimants’ counsel pointed out that even the most senior sets of 4 and 5 of the institution that got employment before his clients are still in service of the board and not affected by the defendant’s purported policy of retirement. By: Joseph Wantu, Makurdi The Guardian News]]>