Members of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) stormed the National Assembly (NASS) complex in Abuja as they continued their protests over the rising cost of living in the country.
The protesters, who were carrying placards with diverse inscriptions, arrived at the National Assembly around 10 am.
Unlike previous protests, the gates of the NASS are thrown open, as the protesters enter without resistance from security personnel.
Meanwhile, the president of the NLC Joe Ajaero says the protests across the country are to let President Bola Tinubu know how Nigerians feel about the economic hardship.
According to him, the development is not just about the NLC but about hunger in Nigeria.
“We are here to, you know, do a rally so that Mr President will know how Nigerians feel; will know where it is pinching us. You know, the tendency for you to have a president and the ministers and advisers around will not tell him exactly what is possible. So we are out to protest today to register before Nigerians the level of suffering and we are calling it a peaceful rally,” he said in Abuja on Tuesday.
“The meeting, you saw; there was a meeting on Sunday till late, and there was a meeting yesterday till late, all aimed at saying, ‘Don’t come out’ but we are out for a peaceful rally to tell Nigerians that we are hungry. There is hunger in the land. There’s nobody that doesn’t know, there’s nobody that doesn’t know that a bag of rice is about N70,000 now or more. You can’t buy anything. Bread is out of reach. With N30,000 minimum wage, if you eat a loaf of bread every day, you’ll be spending almost N40,000.”
Although government and NLC authorities had met in a last-minute move to stop the protests, Ajaero pinned the demonstrations on the Federal Government’s inability to meet the union’s demands in the wake of the fuel subsidy removal.
