Teaching activities and a mid-term examination were disrupted on Wednesday at the International School, University of Lagos (ISL), as staff protested their alleged removal from the university’s payroll and the non-implementation of a court judgment in their favour.
The protesting workers gathered at the school’s main gate, chanting solidarity songs and demanding the restoration of their names to the payroll, alongside the payment of outstanding allowances and other benefits.
Although the pedestrian gate remained open, allowing students to access the premises, the workers said teaching activities were suspended and the scheduled mid-term examination did not hold.
The protesters carried placards with inscriptions including “Equal Work, Equal Rights,” “ISL Tutors Deserve Their Due,” and “Other UNILAG Staff Paid, ISL Tutors Still Owed.”
Speaking with The PUNCH at the school gate, the Chairman of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), University of Lagos chapter, Dr Ademola Yusuf, said the dispute had persisted for years, with affected workers allegedly excluded from the university’s payroll without explanation.
Yusuf explained that the workers discovered the omission when they attempted to register on the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS) but were informed that their names were missing from the platform.
“All of a sudden, whimsically and capriciously, our names were removed from the payroll,” he said.
He added that the workers’ names were initially restored following the intervention of the then Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the Governing Council, Wale Babalakin. However, their salaries were reportedly paid in February 2020 before their names were removed again in March of the same year.
“We were paid in February, only for them to remove our names again by March. What did we do? They gave no reason whatsoever,” Yusuf said.
He maintained that the affected workers were employees of the university’s governing council and should enjoy the same rights and benefits as other university staff.
“The way the vice-chancellor was employed is the way we were employed. We all have the same letters. So, what offence did we commit? Why did you remove our names?” he queried.
Yusuf said the workers subsequently approached the National Industrial Court of Nigeria, which ruled in their favour on May 11, 2026.
However, he alleged that the university had yet to fully implement the judgment, particularly regarding the restoration of the workers’ names to the payroll and the payment of outstanding entitlements.
“The only thing we are aware of is that they are in the dark about whether they will appeal or not appeal. That judgment is still lying on the table till now,” he said.
He also raised concerns over unpaid allowances, including outstanding components of the Consolidated Tertiary Institutions Salary Allowance, noting that repeated engagements with university authorities had yet to produce a satisfactory resolution.
Yusuf warned that the workers could escalate their action if their demands remained unmet, adding that the dispute affected staff beyond the teaching department.
Also speaking, a tutor at the school, Asaju Toye, who said he had worked at the institution for 31 years, accused the university of failing to implement the court judgment despite repeated appeals by the affected workers and their lawyer.
Toye said the workers were recruited by the university’s governing council and had previously enjoyed benefits available to other university employees before their names were removed from the payroll.
According to him, the problem became apparent in 2019 when the workers attempted to register on IPPIS but discovered that their names had not been included on the platform.
He said their names were temporarily restored fo
