Primary and secondary schools in Rivers State Government-owned tertiary institutions have lamented the non-payment of their salaries since February, 2016.
Speaking in a briefing held in collaboration with Rivers State Civil Society Organisation in Port Harcourt on Thursday, February 10, the teachers numbering about 250, alleged that their salaries were stopped on the 18th of February 2016 by the state government.
They said the affected teachers were from the Ignatius Ajuru University of Education Demonstration Secondary School, Ndele; Rivers State University International Secondary and Staff School, Port Harcourt and the Ken Saro-Wiwa Polytechnic Comprehensive Secondary School, Bori.
The teachers said a government directive was issued for names of the affected teachers to be expunged from the state government salary voucher.
They, therefore, appealed to the State Governor, Barr. Nyesom Wike, to urgently settle the outstanding salaries and accruing arrears to enable them cater for their families and health needs, saying they had faced untold hardship in the last five years.
“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 Rivers sons and daughters that he should please reconsider and pay us,” an affected female teacher said.
Going further, the group said the next step they will take if the government refused to pay their entitlements would be a street protest as they had already won every litigation on the matter.
“It has been difficult for us to carry on with our families. Some of our children are out of school, so also others. The Governor is our father, let him come to our aid and remove this shame from our face,” another teacher appealed.