Former employees of the Abia State government who were sacked and asked to go back to their various states of origins have demanded the payment of their entitlements. No fewer than 2,604 non-indigenes were disengaged from the workforce.

Addressing a press conference in Abuja, leaders of the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA), said they wanted the backlog of entitlements of those affected to be paid.

The group claimed that 67 of the affected persons have died. The group alleged that the affected workers were laid off based on discrimination, adding that it was a violation of their Human Rights.