Activities at the University of Jos, Plateau State, were on Monday paralysed following a seven-day strike embarked upon by members of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities and the Non-Academic Staff Union of the institution.
When our correspondent visited the institution on Monday, the gates of the university were shut, while staff and students who tried to gain entrance were left stranded.
Last Monday, SSANU and NASU declared a seven-day warning strike.
The unions said the declaration was made to demand the payment of four months of withheld salaries of their members by the Federal Government after the 2022 nationwide strike.
Meanwhile, the National President of SSANU, Muhammed Ibrahim, informed The PUNCH on Sunday that the two unions were set for their nationwide strike.
But the Minister for Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, said he was unaware of SSANU/NASU’s planned strike.
However, in a letter that SSANU and NASU jointly addressed to the Vice Chancellor of the University, the chairman of the institution’s branch of NASU, Monday Danjuma Kpaji and his counterpart in SSANU, Anthony T. Joro, said the strike that would last for seven days was in line with the directive of their national secretariat.
The letter which was copied to the Plateau State Commissioner of Police and the Director of State Services was sighted by our correspondent in Jos on Monday
It read in part “We bring you fraternal greetings from the secretariat of the Joint Action Committee of NASU and SSANU, University of Jos branch.
“This is to officially inform you that our National Secretariat has declared a seven-day warning strike with effect from Monday, March 18 to Sunday, March 24, 2024, respectively.
“Accordingly, this is to put you on notice that all our services will be withdrawn with no concession, from midnight of Sunday, March 17, 2024, till Sunday, March 24, 2024.”
Earlier reported that SSANU and NASU members at the University of Ilorin on Monday also embarked on strike in compliance with the directive of the national bodies of the two unions.
Punch / Omowunmi Adewuyi