The Nigeria Union of Teachers in Ebonyi has directed its members in seven LGAs where months of salary areas are owed to embark on an indefinite strike.

The strike commenced at noon on Thursday and was announced in a statement signed by Bassey Asuquo, NUT secretary in the state, and made available to journalists in Abakaliki on Thursday.

The affected LGAs are Edda, Ebonyi, Ezza South, Ezza North, Ishielu, Ivo and Ohaukwu respectively.

The LGA chairpersons of the affected councils were alleged to owe teachers four months’ salaries covering October, November, December and January, respectively.

According to the statement, the union directed its members in the seven LGAs to down tools after negotiation with the relevant authorities in the affected councils failed to produce fruitful results.

It further noted that the declaration of the industrial action was done after due consultations with relevant organs of the union at the state and national levels.

“Sequel to our earlier notice on mobilisation for industrial strike, we have thoroughly reviewed the compliance of local government area chairmen regarding the clearance of our members’ salaries.

“As at the close of work on Wednesday, we acknowledge that some LGAs have cleared the backlog of salaries owed to our members. However, we regret to inform you that several chairmen of LGAs have failed to clear the backlog of our members’ outstanding salary arrears,” said the statement.

It added, “In response to this non-compliance, therefore, we hereby declare indefinite strike action in the affected council areas, which include Edda, Ebonyi, Ezza North, Ezza South, Ishielu, Ivo and Ohaukwu LGAs respectively.

“All our state branch officers in the affected LGAs are instructed to adhere strictly to this directive and ensure the immediate enforcement of the strike action from 12:00 a.m. on Thursday, February 6.

“The failure of these LGAs chairmen to meet their obligations to our members is unacceptable, and we will not relent until our demands are met. We call on all our members to remain steadfast and continue their support for the strike.”