The Organised Labour has kicked off its protest against the “anti-people” policies of the President Bola Tinubu administration in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, and other states of the Federation including Lagos, Abia, Plateau, Kaduna, Kano, Rivers, Zamfara, Cross River, Ebonyi, Enugu, Kwara, Ogun, Imo, Ondo, and Edo, over the fuel subsidy removal.
However, oil workers under the aegis of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association began an indefinite strike on Tuesday, citing inhumane treatment by the management of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, an agency of the Federal Government.
Oil workers had earlier on Tuesday staged a protest and shut down the commission’s office in Lagos, while also vowing to shut down the agency’s offices nationwide.
Also in Abuja, members of the Organised Labour with different paraphernalia of the unions, on Wednesday morning, gathered at the iconic Unity Fountain for the protest.
Some officials of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) from the FCT were spotted at the Unity Fountain with hundreds of their members.
Affiliated unions of the NLC and the TUC including the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), the National Union of Electricity Employees of Nigeria (NUEE), National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) also joined the nationwide protest.
There were a sizeable number of security operatives comprising officers of the Nigeria Police Force and the men of the Department of State Services (DSS) at the Unity Fountain just as there are security operatives at the different venues of the protests across the states.
While addressing newsmen, the NLC President, Joe Ajaero said there is nothing stopping the protest, not even an overture from the government.
He added that the Organized Labour won’t shelve the protest until there is a desired response from the government.
