The Enugu State chapter of the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) has embarked on an indefinite strike over unpaid salary arrears and other entitlements.
Sampson Ifedimma, the state chairman of the union, confirmed the action in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Enugu.
He said the strike, which began Friday evening, follows a directive from the union’s national body ordering judiciary workers in the state to withdraw their services from 6 p.m.
“We are not on strike for luxury or frivolities. We are on strike because, in spite of autonomy, workers’ welfare has been neglected,” Ifedimma said.
The chairman explained that the action is a resumption of an earlier suspended strike over non-payment of the Consolidated Judiciary Salary Structure and other outstanding entitlements.
Ifedimma urged the Chief Judge of Enugu State and the President of the Customary Court of Appeal to immediately begin paying the Consolidated Judiciary Salary Structure, which has been pending since 2018.
The union is also demanding payment of four months’ arrears owed to staff employed in the state High Court since October 2022, as well as seven months’ arrears for those working in the Customary Court.
Section 121(3) of the 1999 Constitution mandates that judiciary funds, including salaries and pensions, be drawn directly from the state consolidated revenue, not through executive or civil service channels. JUSUN has consistently pressed for the enforcement of this provision nationwide.
