By Austin Ogwuda
…. Ughelli Teachers stage protestÂ
Teachers in Ughelli, Delta State, Nigeria, on Monday staged a peaceful protest, dressed in black and red over what they termed as “abnormal and illegal transfer” of teachers in the area.
Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Ughelli North Chapter, Comrade Ovuevuraye Augustine spoke on behalf of the protesting teachers
His words: “We are on black and red because the Local Government Education Authority that is in charge of posting and transfer did a very bad and illegal transfer of teachers.
“For a reason we do not know some teachers’ names were deleted while dead and retired teachers were on the list and it is shocking.
“We are here to correct the abnormalities because what we saw on the notice board.. I don’t know what happened to our former transfer letters.
“And that is why we are here to drive home our demands that he should retrieve the posting he tagged transfer and apologize to Ughelli North teachers.
“He should know that before any transfer is made, the NUT must be notified. Again, transfers are done in second term, that is a certificate term rather than transfer done at the beginning of academic session”.
Continuing, the NUT boss said, “One of the shocking names on the list is of a deceased Headmaster, Comrade Onoyovwrhe Emmanuel who died in 2025 but transfered to Izere Primary School, Agadama in Uwheru as a Classroom Teacher and Mrs Edubi that has retired, was on the list.
Some other teachers names including Efeakpokrihe Theresa, Beauty Onojeta were removed from the Teaching Service without any justification.
“In Ughelli, we’ve 896 teachers but on his list we were surprised to see 996 names. We want the Delta State government to call the Local Rd Authority Secretary to order and follow due process because they’re bylaws guiding the Board signed by the Delta State House of Assembly”, he added.
Reacting, the Local Rd Authority Secretary, Pius Omubaye agreed that there were errors.
Said he, “The transfer we did was under the guidance of the Delta State Universal Basic Education Board.
“On our own, when we discovered that there were some errors, some teachers names were not there while names appeared twice, a message was sent across to the NUT Chairman to allow us 48 hours to rectify the errors”.
He however denied any form of bias in the exercise as being insinuated.
*Source: The Pointer Newspaper
