Hundreds of Sacked Adamawa Teachers Protest at Govt House Over Unpaid Salaries

Hundreds of former teachers employed by the Adamawa State Post-Primary Schools Management Board (ASPMB) on Thursday stormed the Government House to demand payment of 29 months of accumulated salaries, despite multiple court rulings in their favour.

The protesters, who were originally hired under former governor Murtala Nyako, marched peacefully but firmly, accusing the current administration of Governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri of deliberately ignoring binding judgments from the National Industrial Court and the Court of Appeal.

Many carried placards with messages such as, “Fintiri, respect court judgment and pay us our money,” reflecting their frustration over what they called a continued disregard for lawful directives.

The affected workers, numbering no fewer than 674, were dismissed by Governor Fintiri on the grounds that their recruitment did not follow due process. However, the former teachers have consistently rejected that justification, describing their sack as unjust and politically motivated.

Speaking on behalf of the group, Ismail Bello painted a grim picture of neglect, noting that many of the students they once taught have since advanced to tertiary institutions, while the teachers’ own lives remain in limbo.

“We taught these children, and today they are in universities, yet we have been abandoned without salaries for 29 months,” Bello lamented.

He stressed that the protest became inevitable after the state government allegedly refused to comply with the court orders that directed it to settle the outstanding entitlements.

Civil rights activist Caleb Umar condemned the government’s stance as “callous and inhumane.” He further revealed that the state reportedly spent about N900 million on litigation it ultimately lost – an amount, he argued, that could have substantially resolved the salary dispute.

“It is shocking that the government would waste N900 million on a failed legal battle when even half of that sum could have paid these workers and eased their suffering,” Umar said.

The protesters warned that their patience was wearing thin and called on the government to immediately obey the rule of law.