Protesting Teachers Arrested in Ebonyi Over Unpaid Salaries
Protesting Teachers Arrested in Ebonyi Over Unpaid Salaries
Over 3,000 teachers in Ebonyi State took to the streets of Abakaliki on Sunday, protesting the non-payment of their salaries for three months and the denial of a minimum wage by local government chairmen. The demonstration turned confrontational when the state’s Commissioner for Education, Paul Awo Nwabosi, ordered the arrest of the protest leaders.
The teachers, drawn from the 13 local government areas, decried the delay in their payments despite Governor Francis Nwifuru’s directive to council chairmen to settle outstanding salaries within 24 hours. The governor had issued the ultimatum to ensure the teachers could celebrate Christmas alongside other workers. However, the council chairmen reportedly ignored the directive for over a week.
The protesters barricaded key areas, including the entrances to the Akanu-Ibiam International Conference Centre and Onwe Road, disrupting traffic for over three hours. Holding placards with messages such as “We are dying of hunger and starvation” and “Pay us our three months’ salaries,” the teachers demanded immediate action.
One protester, Mrs. Udu Nnenna, lamented, “For the past three months, we have received no salaries, bonus, minimum wage, arrears, or promotional increments. We are using the little left to come for screenings, yet nothing has changed. We are dying gradually.”
Another protester, speaking anonymously, highlighted disparities in salary payments: “SEB teachers have been paid, including their minimum wage and Christmas bonus, but UBEB teachers like us have received nothing. We are hungry and angry, and that’s why we are protesting.”
The situation escalated when Commissioner Nwabosi confronted the protesters’ leaders. Instead of addressing their concerns, he ordered their arrest, and the leaders were forcibly taken away in a Hilux van. Attempts by reporters to get further comments from the commissioner were unsuccessful as he left the scene abruptly.
The chairman of the Ebonyi chapter of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), Chinedu Uburu, was also unreachable for comments.
