ASUU Benue varsity chapter begins strike over unpaid salaries

The Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, at the Joseph Sarwuan Tarka University, formerly the Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi, has declared a total and comprehensive strike with immediate effect.

This was announced in a statement by the chairperson of the union, Terseer Abari, on Wednesday.

Abari said the decision to embark on the strike was taken at a congress held on August 12, 2026.

She appealed to the appropriate authorities to pay all outstanding salaries owed members of the union to allow academic activities to resume.

According to the union, the university authority had only paid two of the four components of the Federal Government and ASUU 2025 agreement.

“We would like to say that at the time of this press release, the University has only paid the Consolidated Academic Staff Salaries and the Earned Academic Allowance components of the salaries to date.

“The remaining two components, Consolidated Academic Tools Allowance and Professorial Allowance, have only been paid in January and February 2026, while only 39 per cent of the CATA for March 2026 has also been paid. All these amount to underpayment of salaries of members of ASUU,” the statement said.