Teachers in both primary and secondary schools in Imo state have staged a protest, accusing the State Government of failing to pay their their 12 months salaries
The angry teachers whose salaries were paid last February, 2020, stormed the State House in Owerri, the state capital on Wednesday, chanting solidarity songs with various bold inscriptions “We are not ghost workers”, ‘Hope we are not fraudsters”, “Pay us our one year salaries.”
The non-payment of the salaries according to the teachers, has brought untold hardship on them and their families, appealing to Governor Hope Uzodinma to offset the arrears
One of the protesting teachers, Mrs. Grace Ajaegbu, who teaches at Community School, Udo, Ezinihitte Mbaise, claimed that she has been tagged a ghost worker after spending 29 years in service, and not paid her salary.
Her words,“Since the tenure of this governor began, I have not received a dime. The last salary I got was in February, 2020. It is 12 months now. I am not a fraudster as the governor claimed, neither am I a ghost worker. As am talking to you now, I have not eaten anything since yesterday. What did I do that I should be treated like this? If you look at where we are now, it is like saying that we are almost dead. Many of my colleagues are suffering from one ailment or the other. We are pleading with the governor; we are all Imo sons and daughters. He should please reconsider and pay us.”
Another Mrs. Juliet Akalazu from Mbaitoli who said she had spent eight years in service, said “since March last year, I have not received any kobo as a salary.”
According to her, “The governor said we are fraudsters and ghost workers. That prompted us to come with every document with which we were employed. We want the governor himself to verify our claims. I am old in this field and I am preparing for my retirement. But Since one year, we have done about 13 different verifications on this matter, yet, the governor doesn’t want to pay us".
The teachers added that they had submitted vital documents to the offices of Accountant General, Head of Service and Ministry of Education, Secondary Education Management Board, the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB)
“We submitted our documents to the office of Accountant General; submitted to the Head of service; submitted to the Ministry of Information, Education Ministry, Secondary Education Management Board(SEMB), State Universal Basic Education Management Board (SUBEB)".
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