Members of staff and pensioners of Tayo Akpata University, formerly College of Education, Ekiadolor, on Monday, protested 11months unpaid salaries and pensions in Benin.
The protesters, dressed in black attires, marched to the Government House, Benin and told the governor, Godwin Obaseki, that they were ashamed of being turned into beggars to meet their family responsibilities.
Mr Fred Omonuwa, Leader of the protesters and President, College of Education Academic Union (COASU), said that they would not succumb to blackmail on the altar of politics for demanding for their rights.
Omonuwa said that they would continue with the protest until their demands were met.
“For some time now, we have tried to meet with Governor Obaseki, but the Head of Service came to speak with us to sheathe our swords.
“We had thought that within two weeks, our salaries would be paid, but we only got a month salary out of the 12 months being owed.
“Congress met and decided to stage a peaceful protest to demand for our hard-earned salaries, including pension and gratuities.
“We spent couple of hours at the Government House but nobody came out to address us. We believe that a labourer is worthy of his pay and we are going to continue on this path until our demands are met,” he said.
Omonuwa also expressed disappointment with the state government for linking their protest with politics.
Wondering why the protest should be linked to politics, he said that when the state government visited the workers in June, it promised to clear the arrears but ended up only a month salary out of 12 months.
“We have responsibilities to meet. We wonder why a month salary should be paid out of the 12 months salaries. It’s just a mere blackmail,” he said.
Reacting, the state Commissioner for Education, Mr Jimoh Ijegbai, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the protest was engineered by politicians who were bent on derailing the development of the state.
He, however, said that the arrears owed the workers would be paid even when they were not working. (NAN)