Primary school teachers in Keffi local government area of Nasarawa state on Wednesday staged a protest over the government’s failure to pay their salaries for five months.
They marched in the streets around the council secretariat to demand their monthly entitlement.
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The teachers, employed by Keffi council area and serving in various primary schools, called the government’s treatment of them was “unfair and inconsiderate”.
“Are we not employees of the government? Is it a crime to be a teacher? A worker deserves his wages, Enough is Enough, pay us our salary for peace to reign” were among messages written on their placards.
A source from the council who did want his name in the print said the teachers blocked the entrance to the council secretariat, demanding the council chairman address them on why they have been denied payment for five months.
“The teachers had been here for hours waiting for the chairman to address them but all their effort to see the chairman proved abortive.
“What I understood as being their reasons for the protest was that they have been receiving payment in percentages for five months now,” the source added.
When contacted on phone on Wednesday the state chairman of Nigeria Union of Teachers, Francis Tete, said he was not aware of the protest officially, but however, confirmed that the union would address the issue as soon as possible, noting that the leadership of the union met with the aggrieved teachers to find a lasting solution to their plights.
He said: “We had a meeting with the aggrieved teachers yesterday and discussed extensively on a modalities in which their issue will be resolved amicably.”