TheCable

Security guards on Monday barred pupils and teachers from getting access into some public primary schools in Port Harcourt, Rivers state capital, over unpaid salaries.

NAN quoted some of the guards as saying they had not been paid for 11 months.

The teachers at Port Harcourt Centenary Model Primary School said it was not the first time they would be locked out by the security guards.

“We want government to pay us, every worker deserves to be paid, they have been unfair to us; they make it look as if our services here are not needed,” Chijioke Amah, a teacher, said.

“We all stood outside here for more than three hours before the gate was opened, the guards have been lamenting non-salary payments for several months.

Another teacher who pleaded anonymity said: “Each time they lock us out, we will spend several hours outside, we end up losing some work hours, this is not good.”

It reportedly took the intervention of  Tamunosisi Gogo-Jaja, the state’s commissioner for education, to get the gates opened.

Gogo-Jaja promised to look into the matter, saying “it is very unfortunate, we promise that this will not happen again, our interest is to see that nothing hinders the flow of academic activities.’’