*Aggrieved students of the Taraba State University, in Jalingo, hold a solidarity protest with the institution’s lecturers said to have been owed 10 months’ salaries by the state government

Isola Moses | ConsumerConnect

Aggrieved students of the Taraba State University, in Jalingo, the state capital, have protested over their  lecturers’ boycott of the institution’s semester examinations billed to commence Monday, January 9, 2023.

The students were supposed to start their examination Monday, but the inability of the lecturers to get paid impeded the process, Channels TV report said.

It is recalled current protest is coming few months after the  Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), October 2022, suspended its eight-month strike for unpaid allowances, among other demands, as directed by the National Industrial Court.

The University lecturers’ earlier protest over non-payment of their salaries    File Photo

However, protest against the lecturers’ action, the students as well blocked all roads leading to the institution, hindering vehicular movement around the axis.

It was learnt the students also burnt tyres and chanted solidarity songs during the demonstration.

The students later blocked the Jalingo-Wukari Express Road, hindering vehicular movement, report stated.

Business activities were  brought to a halt in the process.

Salisu Waziri, a students’ leader in the University, said that their demonstration was a solidarity protest with the institution’s lecturers had not been paid 10 months’ salaries.

Waziri also explained: “We are supposed to start our first semester’s examinations today (Monday), but on getting to the venue of the exams, we were told that the exams would not hold because our lecturers had been owed salaries for 10 months.”

The student leader urged the University authorities and Taraba State Government to pay the lecturers’ salaries for their semester examinations to hold in the institution.

“These lecturers have children; they have families to take care of. “Some of our students are almost 30 years, and the more they continue to stay in school, they cannot go for NYSC, which has an age limit.

“This strike is a solidarity strike with our lecturers. “We call on the government and the school management to ensure our lecturers are paid their 10 months’ salaries so that we can be taught and our exams take place,” said Waziri.

No authority of the institution, or the state government had commented on the students’ solidarity protest as of the time of filing the report.