Activities at the University of Cross River State (UniCross) ground to a halt on Thursday as four staff unions shut down offices across the institution in protest against the non-payment of salaries.

The unions include Joint Action Congress (JAC), Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU), National Association of Academic Technicians (NAAT), and Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU).

In the early hours of Thursday, union members ordered workers to vacate offices and suspended all skeletal services previously maintained within the university.

Following a joint meeting on campus, union leaders ordered all administrative offices to be locked, effectively halting operations and forcing both academic and non-academic staff, as well as students, to leave the premises.

A union spokesman, who declined to give his name, said the action became necessary because management had failed 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.

The spokesman, describing the situation as unfair to workers, added that the unions had no option but to shut down offices until outstanding salaries were settled.

Reacting to the development, the university’s Vice Chancellor, Prof. Francesca Bassey, said management was working to clear the salary backlog as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, students have expressed concern that the industrial action may disrupt examinations scheduled to begin on Monday.

A student in the Media Studies Department, Alfred Obeten, urged the university authorities to resolve the dispute urgently to prevent further delays to 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.