In a display of solidarity with the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), several government ministries, departments, and agencies in Abuja have temporarily closed their doors, leaving key areas, including the Federal Secretariat and popular radio house, deserted. Even banks in the affected regions have been forced to halt operations amid the two-day nationwide strike.
The NLC’s decision to call for the strike, as outlined in a joint communique signed by its national president, Joe Ajaero, and Secretary, Emmanuel Ugboaja, came in response to the federal government’s failure to engage with organized labor on mitigating the impact of the subsidy removal on petrol prices for the “poor masses.” This strike follows a one-day protest staged by organized labor in August, which disrupted activities across major cities nationwide.
Among the grievances cited by the NLC for mobilizing its members for this nationwide shutdown are allegations of police siege at the National Union of Road Transport Workers’ national headquarters, worker rights exploitation in Imo state, interference in trade union affairs by the Abia State government, and the proposed demolition plans of the new Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, among others.