Teachers working in dangerous Nigerian state demand unpaid wages
Teachers and learning
Teachers working in one of Nigeria's most dangerous states are still waiting to be paid after protesting that they had not received their salaries in almost a year.
The teachers in Bauchi province 鶹APP which has been hit by a wave of Boko Haram attacks and suicide bombings 鶹APP marched on government offices in Bauchi city on February 10 to demand their money.
They carried placards which said 鶹APPWe are suffering鶹APP and 鶹APPWe cannot feed our families鶹APP. Teachers' representative Tijani Abubakar said: 鶹APPWe want Governor Isa Yuguda to intervene and address this situation because we are suffering, The situation is even more pathetic for those of us posted to remote areas. How can teachers transport, feed and accommodate themselves without salaries?鶹APP
He said the 2000 teachers affected had been recruited in April 2014 but had not yet been paid. He said they had been asked by the education ministry to 鶹APPbe patient鶹APP.
A blog on the website said: 鶹APPIt almost defies belief that these teachers, many of whom are working in the most remote areas at risk of their lives, are not even being paid the small amount of pay which they are promised. Such work is little short of heroic, even more so when class sizes are often huge and conditions very bad, yet these teachers have carried on working without pay.鶹APP
After the protest, the Bauchi state government promised to pay the arrears in instalments. Teachers' spokesman Mohammed Umar said some teachers had been paid part of their salaries in December 鶹APP but those who protested had not received any money.
In the past week, Boko Haram launched an attack on Kibiya police station in Bauchi state. In December, eight people were killed and 20 injured in a bomb attack on a Bauchi market.
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