Activities at the University of Cross River State (UniCross) were on Thursday disrupted as four staff unions shut down offices across the institution over the non-payment of salaries.
The affected unions — the Joint Action Congress (JAC), Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU), National Association of Academic Technicians (NAAT), and Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) — directed workers to vacate their offices and suspended all skeletal services previously maintained within the university.
Following a joint meeting on campus, union leaders ordered that all administrative offices be locked, effectively halting operations and compelling academic and non-academic staff, as well as students, to leave the premises.
A union spokesman, who declined to be named, said the action became necessary due to management’s failure to pay workers’ January and February 2026 salaries.
“We are demanding prompt payment of our salaries as and when due. Our December 2025 salary was only paid in late January 2026, and up till now there is no indication that January salary will be paid, let alone February,” he said.
Describing the situation as unfair, the spokesman added that the unions had no option but to shut down offices until the outstanding salaries were settled.
Reacting, the Vice Chancellor of the university, Prof. Francesca Bassey, said management was making efforts to clear the salary backlog as soon as possible.
Meanwhile, students have expressed concern that the industrial action could disrupt examinations scheduled to commence on Monday.
A student of the Media Studies Department, Alfred Obeten, appealed to the authorities to urgently resolve the dispute to prevent further delays in the academic calendar.
“This strike will again affect our academic progress. We appeal to management to pay the workers and avert a prolonged shutdown,” he said.