GOVERNOR Mukhtar Yero of Kaduna State escaped being held hostage by hundreds of graduate trainees in the state capital yesterday who were protesting the non-payment of their allowances for five months. 

Incensed at not being paid since the beginning of the years, the youths were trainees under the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (Smedan). They besieged the venue of the inauguration event of the distribution of cheques to beneficiaries of the N1bn (£3.18m) partnership fund between the state government and Bank of Industry (BoI), which the governor attended yesterday. 

Governor Yero, however, escaped the anger of the placard-carrying youths as he was not present but was represented by his deputy, Nuhu Bajoga, at the event. Having completed their Smedan training since January this year, the youths had not been paid and were intent on confronting the governor about this. 

They forced their way into the General Hassan Katsina House in the Kawo suburb of Kaduna, where the event took place venue of the event yesterday. However, they were disappointed that the deputy governor was the one present so proceeded to shout him down with chants of What we are saying, give us our money!” 

This development forced the programme to end abruptly as government officials and other guests from the BoI rushed into waiting vehicles to leave the venue of the event. Inscriptions on some of the placards displayed by the protesters read: "Smedan programme is a fraud.

"This is 419, Give us our entitlements. We have not been paid any kobo but the state government said it has paid us. You cannot use us and dump us, we are tired of this government.” 

A spokesman for the trainees, Abdulraman Salihu, said: “We finished training since January this year but the government refused to pay us and what we are hearing from people is that we have been paid but nobody paid us any kobo. We are entitled to N1bn across the state but up till now we have not been paid.”