NUT Declares Indefinite Strike in 7 Ebonyi LGAs Over Unpaid Salaries

The Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) in Ebonyi State has directed its members in seven local government areas of the state to embark on an indefinite strike from Thursday over unpaid salaries.

The NUT Secretary in the state, Mr. Bassey Asuquo, disclosed this in a statement on Thursday in Abakaliki.

The affected LGAs are Edda; Ebonyi, Ezza South, Ezza North, Ishielu, Ivo, and Ohaukwu respectively.

The chairmen of the affected local councils were alleged to owe teachers four months’ salaries covering October, November, December, and January respectively.

The union directed its members in the LGAs to down tools after negotiation with the relevant authorities in the affected councils failed to produce results.

The statement read: “Sequel to our earlier notice on mobilisation for an industrial strike, we have thoroughly reviewed the compliance of Local Government Area chairmen regarding the clearance of our members’ salaries.

“At the close of work on Wednesday, we acknowledged that some LGAs have cleared the backlog of salaries owed to our members.

“However, we regret to inform you that several chairmen of LGAs have failed to clear the backlog of our members’ outstanding salary arrears.

“In response to this non-compliance therefore, we hereby declare indefinite strike action in the affected council areas which include; Edda, Ebonyi, Ezza North, Ezza South, Ishielu, Ivo, and Ohaukwu LGAs respectively.

“All our state branch officers in the affected LGAs are instructed to adhere strictly to this directive and ensure the immediate enforcement of the strike action from 12 midnight on Thursday, February 6.

“The failure of these LGAs chairmen to meet their obligations to our members is unacceptable and we will not relent until our demands are met.

“We call on all our members to remain steadfast and continue their support for the strike.”