Governor Chukwuma Soludo of Anambra State has said that no fewer than 1,000 teachers in the State were relieved of their appointments because they were employed in a hazy manner.

The Governor stated that the affected persons thereby remained unqualified for the job.

Soludo made the clarification in a statement signed by his Press Secretary, Mr Chris Aburime, on Thursday.

According to him, no qualified teacher was discharged by the Anambra government.

The statement read in part: “The attention of the Governor has been drawn to publications on protest by Parents/Teachers Association (PTA) teachers, purportedly converted to permanent staff in Anambra schools.

“The protesters, who barricaded the entrance of the State House of Assembly, displayed placards with various inscriptions, claiming to have been engaged by the State government before the termination of their jobs.

“For the avoidance of doubt, no qualified teacher in the State’s school system has been relieved of his/her appointment.

“The affected PTA teachers were “converted” to the school system in the last days of the last administration in irregular, hazy circumstances.

“They were only asked to regularise their employment with the government by taking part in the online teachers’ recruitment test.”

The Anambra government had advertised 5,000 vacancies in the Health and Education sectors, in which over 31,500 were shortlisted for Computer Based Test.