Strike May Be Prolonged, Says Oshiomhole
Following one death in Kaduna, arrest of several labour leaders
By Chris Nwachuku in Lagos and Juliana Taiwo in Abuja
President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Adams Oshiom-hole, yesterday gave indication that the nationwide strike which today entered its third day to protest increases in prices of petroleum products may be prolonged following the killing and maiming of innocent Nigerians by the Police.
Also, yesterday, the NLC stated that eight of its leaders have been arrested in the premises of the Abuja Sheraton Hotel.
Oshiomhole told newsmen one person was killed in Kaduna by the police which also arrested many others in Borno, Anambra, Akwa Ibom, and Edo states.
"We are not at war with individuals or our nation but, however, the response of the state has shown otherwise. We have confirmed that police killed an innocent citizen in Tundunwada in Kaduna, some arrests were made in Anambra, Akwa Ibom, and others" in circumstances he described as "flimsy charges."
He pointed out that people are already disillusioned by the policies of the state, which he said is "dehumanising," and fast "turning forests into firewood and yet the government is reacting this way."
"Nigerians have a right to cry to the ears of their leaders about how they feel about policies that are affecting them. I did say that when the strike begins and anybody is shot and killed that the character of this struggle will change. We cannot abandon the struggle, we must defend it. Therefore, we are consulting with colleagues to carry out comprehensive appraisals and if we are not satisfied, rather than end the strike on Thursday, we will elongate it," he said.
Labour had said the strike would be in phases, with the first phase lasting four days, followed by a two-week break and that the action will be resumed if the prices were not reversed. It also warned that the strike may be prolonged if anybody was killed or maimed in the process.
Oshiomhole also reiterated that the NLC and Civil Society Coalition would take into consideration the attitude of government as represented in the committee set up by President Olusegun Obasanjo to look at ways of cushioning the effect of the fuel increases. He noted that if there are no indications of government's readiness to revert the prices to the pre-September 23 rate, labour movement has the right to re-adjust the character of the struggle.
"It is in our collective interest as a people and a nation to make this sacrifices (continue the strike) as painful as they are, realising that the pains will be worse if we do not make sacrifices now," he said.
He took exception to President Obasanjo's claim that the NLC was running down his government.
"We want to publicly deny that that is our intention. We have nothing to gain by running down this government because we are not a political party that is planning to take over the government.
"We ask him to play back the national broadcast of October 8, 2003 when he told us that fuel price is better fixed at N40, so that Nigerians will feel the pain once and for all and thereafter prices will begin to come down. We are supposed to believe our President. He told the nation in a national broadcast and yet we have had more price increases. That means the President was misled by beneficiaries of this deregulation, by agents of importers, those who have wrecked our refineries and who are into multi-billion naira business that has made Nigeria a laughing stock in the comity of oil exporting nations.
"Not only advanced countries but even third world countries like Venezuela export more of refined products rather than crude. We have no excuse that five years into democracy we are still lamenting either that the pipeline is not working or is working but the refineries are down...
"We reiterate that we must find solution through dialogue but we also reject any attempt to blackmail us and we also refuse to keep quiet in the face of faulty policies or ill-digested public policies, particularly when we are at the receiving end of those policies," he said.
He commended the independent media for a good job particularly in the face of government's attempt at distorting facts and presenting it to Nigerians through the various government media.
"We can see the benefit of independent press because we saw a government that is determined to feed the public with distorted facts. Mrs. Remi Oyo, who used to be president of Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) threw ethics to the wind when she asked all private media to vacate the Villa to deny them the opportunity to hear from us. Having heard from the President, then they brought NTA so that they can feed the world with distorted stories. Before they did that, they had prayed in both Christian and Islamic ways.
"We cannot solve the problem by fooling or deceiving the Nigerian people. NTA in our last conference cut and nailed our statement to portray that we believed in dialogue and the rest of the things we said were lost.
"This is not funny because it is an institution of state that is grossly misused which is funded by tax payers money. It reminds us of the days of communist Russia when PRADA, the only government media, was being used to feed the world with half truths but at the end, it collapsed because it was built on falsehood and half-truths," he said.
He added that the NTA must be made to account for the taxpayers' money.
"We intend to mobilise at the appropriate date and get them to appreciate that they are a national institution and not the mouth piece of government," he said
He also said the NLC would write a strongly-worded letter to the Inspector General of Police to draw his attention to the killing, arrests and maiming that have trailed the strike.
Earlier, Chairman, All Progressive Grand Alliance, Chief Chekwas Okorie, had at a solidarity visit to the NLC headquarters said the party was ready to mobilise its members to offer reinforcement to ensure a successful strike. "We have a common enemy and the NLC is providing a common leadership to fight this common enemy, we are ready to provide reinforcement if the NLC is being weakened in any way," he assured.
The arrested union leaders in Abuja, according to a statement signed by the NLC Acting General Secretary, Lukman Salihu are workers in the hotel industry. They include Hassan Amedu, Secretary of Hotel and Personnel Services Union in the Federal Capital Territory, Issa Ibrahim, Chairman, NICON Hilton branch of the union and the secretary, Bashiru Odojoro.
"The arrest took place this evening when on monitoring, which we considered as legitimate and universal component of strike management. NLC condemn this arrest which has followed a persistent pattern of state repression aimed at interfering with peaceful prosecution of the strike," said Lukman
He noted that the arrest will not affect the morale of hotel workers and the staff of NLC.
In Lagos, NLC monitoring team led by Comrade Owei Lakamfa was attacked at Ojuelegba at about 11 a.m. by youths who were armed with explosive weapons. The team which was coming from Surulere, was trying make a u-turn at Ojuelegba to head towards the barracks when unsuspecting youths numbering about 30 descended on the activists and beat up some of them.
The vehicles conveying the unionists were also damaged. Mostly affected were the vehicles belonging to Joe Ajaero of National Union of Electricity Employees and that of the National Treasurer of National Union of Banks Insurance and Financial Institutions Employees. Most other vehicles on the entourage were also affected.
While the attack lasted, unionists who ran to the police patrol team consisting of over 10 men stationed at Ojuelegba bus stop, were rebuffed. The policemen told the unionists to go and settle their case with the armed youths.
Worried by the development, the officials drove off towards the National Stadium, while some of them took to their heels and went back to NLC sub-headquarters located some metres away from the scene of the incident for protection.
At Iyana Ipaja, another monitoring team was also attacked by police at the round about. NLC spokesman, Lakemfa said the police descended on the unionists for allegedly moving round the town when the strike was supposed to be 'sit-at-home.' The labour and civil society officials who were not armed had to abandon the route to avoid a possible bloodshed, according to Lakemfa.
However, Labour said it would not fold its hands and watch its members being attacked.
"If any of us is attacked next time, we have to defend ourselves," said Lakemfa.
Particularly worrisome to NLC is the fact that the attack was either directly carried out by policemen or in their presence.
"The NLC officials were attacked in Ojuelegba by a well armed group in the presence of two contingents of armed policemen, who looked on as if they were watching film. Many of the cars were damaged and a number of people injured," he said.
Although Lakemfa said he reported the incident to the Area "C" police commander, yet there was no response.
He noted that the police want to suppress the strike through coercion but warned that the action will become violent if the event of yesterday is repeated today.
Also, the Conference of Federation of Trade Unions (CFTU) said the authorities are taking measures to intimidate leaders of the trade union movement.
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