Primary and secondary teachers from the government owned schools in Rivers State on Friday staged a peaceful protest at Port Harcourt, the State Capital, over their alleged exclusion from the N100,000 Christmas bonus approved for civil servants by the state Governor, Siminalayi Fubara.
The over 100 teachers said that other civil servants in the state had received theirs along with their December 2023 salaries, but wondered why they didn’t benefit from the bonus.
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Governor Fubara had approved the ‘Christmas’ bonus for each civil servant in the state.
The aggrieved teachers who besieged the Government House, expressed displeasure about the development and called on the state government to intervene
One of the teachers simply identified as Oke said, “We were so happy when we heard that the governor approved a N100,000 Christmas bonus for all civil servants. So we assumed that the last Christmas was going to be very great for us.
“But as we speak today, this is January, a few of us as you can see, have not received the Christmas bonus.
“On Monday, schools will be resuming. Most of us travelled and we have returned.
“We have exhausted all we have. So we are here this morning to register our complaints to our dear loving governor to help us talk to those who are holding our Christmas bonus.
“Our N100,000 Christmas bonus should be released because it will go a long way in cushioning the effect of the hardship, especially in this January.”
An official of the government, who addressed the protesting teachers, commended them for their peaceful disposition and assured them that their complaints would be looked into.
