Lawyers, Teachers Barricade C’River Govt House over Payroll Delisting

Bassey Inyang

Movement of vehicles to and from the Government House in Calabar, Cross River State was temporarily disrupted yesterday morning when protesting lawyers and science teachers barricaded the main entrance of the seat of power to register their protest with the state Governor, Prof Ben Ayade.

Before taking their protest to Ayade, the lawyers and teachers, who were in their hundreds, firstly stormed the office of the state Accountant General and barricaded its main entrance gate.

Speaking on behalf of the protesting teachers, who were mainly science teachers, Mr. Henry Abuh, said they were employed in 2016 by Ayade’s administration after going through rigorous processes of employment.

The teachers, through their spokesperson, said their investigation indicated that it was from the office of the Special Adviser to the Governor on Payroll, Mr. John Odey, that their names were removed from the payroll.

Abuh complained that since September this year, they had not received any alert from their banks to indicate payment of their salaries.

He said when they investigated, it was discovered that their names were removed from the state payroll.

According to him, “We went through painstaking process before we were employed as science teachers, and we have our confirmation letters issued to us by the state government. We were surprised to discover that the special adviser to Ayade on payroll removed our names, and since September, we have not received any alert.”

He said the state government had embarked on the recruitment of science teachers before Governor Liyel Imoke left office, and when the present governor assumed office, he also embarked on the recruitment of science teachers, wondering why the state government had to remove their names from the payroll.