The Anambra State Government has reduced the February salaries of workers who failed to report for duty on Mondays, previously declared sit-at-home days by the Indigenous People of Biafra.

The state announced the commencement of pro-rata salary payments for civil servants as part of efforts to end the Monday sit-at-home protests, stating that effective February 2026, salaries would be adjusted according to attendance.

However, some workers reported significant deductions.

At the Jerome Udoji State Secretariat in Awka, staff told journalists that the reductions did not always match the number of Mondays they missed.

One worker, who requested anonymity, said a colleague received only N10,000 for February after deductions.

Another from the Ministry of Information said, “Out of my total salary of over N80,000, I received just N3,500.”

“One of my colleagues said she received her salary with N10,000 deducted. The cuts are irregular, but I think there were errors in the computation because some people who missed work only once or twice had substantial deductions from their salaries,” a worker explained.

Another affected staff member said, “I am surprised to see huge deductions when I received the alert for my February salary. Over N80,000 was deducted for missing work for two Mondays. I think it was miscalculated, as two Mondays were not supposed to be up to that amount.”

Contacted on Tuesday, the Commissioner for Information, Dr Law Mefor, confirmed that the reductions were meant as punishment.

“The salary cut is a punishment for failure to come to work on Mondays.

“The instruction was that when you come to work on Mondays, you clock in, and at the close of work, you clock out. That is to show that you came to work.

“But, if you came to work on Mondays, but you didn’t clock in, and didn’t clock out, it means that you didn’t come to work because there is no evidence to show that you came to work,” Mefor said.