Widows and next of kin of retired primary school teachers protest peacefully in Akwa Ibom State over unpaid entitlements by the state government.
The protesters who barricaded the entrance to Government House along Wellington Bassey Way on Tuesday displayed placards with various inscriptions such as: “Deacon Udom Emmanuel Save Our Soul (SOS)”, “The Agonies of Widows/Next of Kin of Primary School Teachers in Akwa Ibom State,” among others and urged Governor Udom Emmanuel to release funds for immediate payment of pensions and gratuities arrears of teachers who are alive from 2011- 2018.
They also appealed to the governor to refund 7.5% pension contribution as well as harmonisation of pensions.
Addressing the protesters, Secretary of the union, Mr Benson Benjamin regretted that out of the N33billion the state government owe them, they only paid N1billion which according to him was only a ‘paltry’ sum.
Read Also: Court remands man for allegedly insulting Fintiri
“Last year the governor said we should conduct verification exercise, and after the exercise, it was discovered that the governor was owing over N33billion and the governor thereafter released a paltry N1billion, which was not enough.”
He observed that government officials take their pensions and gratuities upfront before leaving office after serving for just eight years and wondered why retired primary school teachers who have served 35 years would be deprived of their entitlements.
He warned that if the governor fails to accede to their demands, they would stage another protest on September 23 which is the state anniversary to tell the world how they have suffered.
His words: “These people have served for 35 years and they deserve their entitlements and today we are telling the governor to take the responsibility and pay these people their entitlements, we ask him to come and do the needful.
“Our members are dying; they cannot go for their medical treatments. We urge the government to take the bull by the horn and pay the entitlements.
“The government should do the needful, if we go back today without a positive response we will come back on September 23, to press further our demands and you know what that means because we need that money
Things are so expensive, we cannot afford house accommodation, it is the governor’s responsibility to pay the money.” he said.
