Twenty-Six Months Salary Arrears Responsible For Death Of Our Members—ASUU

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma Chapter has stated that the deaths of some of its members were caused by 26 months non-payment of salaries owed by Governor Godwin Obaseki since January 2022.

Briefing the press on Thursday, Chairperson ASUU,AAU Ekpoma, Cyril Oziegbe Onogbosele, stated that the hardship and poverty facing the staff of the university has led to the death of many workers of the university, who lack money to cater for themselves as a result of non-payment of salaries.

Onogbosele accused the state government in cohort with its Special Intervention Team (SIT) in the university to have unleased different forms of blackmail, propaganda and misinformation on the university.

He stated that the university is in comatose with the consequences of workers facing hardship and leaving in droves while the number of prospective students to the university/enrolment through JAMB had dropped from over 14,000 in the previous years to barely 3000 in 2024.

Onogbosele added that the SIT resorted to the use of hunger as a weapon against union leaders and many other staff of the university through deliberate denial of salaries and promotion, pay-cut, witch-hunt, and intimidation.

“It is time for a serious resistance against the ending problem of payment of salaries of staff in the university which has been characterized by delay in payment of salaries, arbitrary stoppage of the salaries of some staff, selective payment of salaries , non-payment of outstanding/withheld salaries among others.

“For no just cause, many academic staff have been denied payment of salaries for twenty-six months since January 2022. The affected staff in the university have been working in pains without pay. They were not tried for, or found wanting in violation of the University’s Law or Rules and Regulations to warrant denial of their salaries.

“Slave trade was abolished hundreds of years ago, but the SIT and university administration have re-packaged slavery and foisted it on workers of AAU, Ekpoma. It is slavery to make a human being work without pay. Even in modern wars, it is criminal to use hunger as a weapon.

“The SIT/Government’s repeated announcement that it does not owe staff of the university any salary is not true. It is a ploy to distract the public from the sordid reality of pains, hardship and poverty facing the staff of the university,” he said.