3 principals die in auto crash as teachers call off strike in Delta

THREE secondary school principals in Delta State lost their lives in a road accident, on Friday.

The development came as teachers in the state called off their one-week strike and are expected to resume work on Monday.

Although the identities of the deceased principals could not be ascertained as of the time of this report, it was gathered that two of them hailed from Ethiope East Local Government Area of the state.

They were said to be on their way to Kwale for a meeting of post-primary school heads convened at the instance of the state Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, Mr Chiedu Ebie.

Details of the accident were sketchy, according to the state chairman of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Comrade Jonathan Jemirieyigbe, who expressed his grief about the occurrence.

Teachers in primary and secondary schools had called off their strike after an emergency meeting of the State Wing Executive Council (SWEC), where it expressed satisfaction with the resolution reached at the union and state government meeting attended by the state governor, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa, in Warri, on Thursday.

In a communiqué at the end of the meeting, signed by the state chairman, Comrade Jemirieyigbe; Comrade Joe Iyalekhue (State Secretary) and Comrade A. L. Okogba (Publicity Secretary), the teachers commended the disposition of Governor Okowa in the resolution of the issues.

They equally appreciated members of the union for their solidarity while the strike lasted.

The resolutions reached between the union and the government include that the December 2016 salaries of primary school teachers be paid in full by next week and that the issue of inter cadre transfer of secondary school teachers be treated with dispatch, while a committee of post-primary education board and NUT be set up to correct the anomalies in the conversion of secondary school teachers that led to their downgrading and other issues affecting the implementation of promotion.