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Planned Labour Strike:Police lay siege to NLC office,
varsities
•Civil
societies, Labour form coalition
•Students protest in Benin, Bauchi
By Our Reporters
What Nigeria could
look like from October 11 may have been previewed on Tuesday with the snapshot
of events in Lagos in the South West, Bauchi in the North East and Benin (South
South). Simply put, it is mayhem.
If the government does
not step in to reverse the new pump prices of fuel products, the Nigeria Labour
Congress (NLC) has pledged to call out its members for a rather quiet -
but, nonetheless, potentially crippling - protest by staying at home until
its grievances are addressed.
On Monday, Labour gave
Abuja an ultimatum of 14 days to deliver, or else…
The government reacted
on Tuesday by showcasing its might - rather than try parley.
Anti-riot policemen
and officers of the State Security Service (SSS) laid siege to the Lagos office
of the NLC in Yaba. And they maintained a heavy presence around the main
entrances of some tertiary institutions in the state.
University students
protested the price rises in Benin City. They held the ancient enclave hostage
for hours and, in the process disrupted social and business activities. Their
counterparts in Bauchi also made their views heard loudly and have promised
“confrontation” should Aso Rock stand its ground.
Security agents
stationed themselves at the entrance to the street leading to the NLC office in
Lagos and questioned everyone passing through. The situation was the same at
the main gates of the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Lagos State Polytechnic
(LASPOLY) Isolo, and Lagos State University (LASU), Ojo.
General Secretary of
the National Association of Air Transport Employee (NUATE), Abdul Razak Saidu,
expressed dismay at the intimidation. He said: “We sincerely do not
understand the manner of democracy we run here, where people cannot lawfully
express their displeasure over government policies that have negative influence
on their lives”, he said at the Yaba office of the NLC.
“It looks like
we are in a war situation. It is absolutely wrong for the police to stand there
and to turn back visitors to the secretariat. We will react to this lawfully
and send a message to them that we are not in any way intimidated. The NLC has
made its position known on the fuel price increases and I don’t think
that should in anyway warrant this kind of harassment”.
An undeterred Labour
on Monday made good its promise to appeal against the judgement of the Federal
High Court, Abuja which prohibited it from going on strike over the matter. The
ruling also declared invalid the office of NLC President Adams Oshiomhole.
The appeal was filed
at the Court of Appeal, Abuja by NLC counsel Femi Falana. No date has been
fixed for the hearing.
Civil society
organisations have accused the government of having breached the Constitution
in several ways that not only defeat universal norms of democracy and curtail
basic human rights but also reveal the authoritarian tendencies of the
administration.
They disclosed their
common position in a statement issued in Lagos, which criticised the government
for its arbitrarily treatment of individuals as well as ethnic nationalities.
Signatories to the
statement included the Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO), United Action for
Democracy (UAD), Open Society Justice Initiative (OSJI), Network on Police
Reform in Nigeria (NOPRIN), Democratic Alternative (DA), Centre for
Constitutional Governance (CCG), HURILAWS, Access to Justice (AJ) and Centre
for Community Education and Empowerment (CCEE).
“This
arbitrariness has shown that the government has completely jettisoned chapter
IV of the 1999 Constitution, violated section 355 of the Criminal Code act cap
77 and abandoned basic democratic principles.
“Rather than
hunt perceived enemies of the state, the government should look into the grievances
that lie at the root of agitations of self-determination groups like the
MASSOB. This can be done through the instrumentality of a Sovereign National
Conference, which has been the demand of civil society groups and other
progressives in the country,” it said.
The civil societies
unanimously endorsed the position of the NLC.
Oshiomhole disclosed
in Lagos on Tuesday that the NLC and the groups have agreed to form a body,
known as Labour and Civil Society Coalition (LASCO), to press on with the planned
strike.
The new organisation
will meet today to devise ways to achieve the aim.
In Benin City,
economic activities were disrupted by over 6,000 students of the University of
Benin (UNIBEN) who held Edo State Government House hostage for over two hours
to protest the new fuel price increases.
They marched round the
streets of the city before heading for the seat of power where they destroyed
ornamental plants and flowers around the premises.
Sighting the students,
who arrived the Governor’s Office just after 10 a.m., a team of about 500
policemen shut all the gates.
Angered by the police
action, the students pulled down the giant bill board of Governor Lucky
Igbinedion and vandalised a car marked AA578DGE belonging to the State SSS
Director, Emmanuel Afolabi.
They were later
placated by Deputy Governor Mike Oghiadomhe who addressed them and promised to
convey their grievances to President Olusegun Obasanjo.
In the North East, the
National Union of Bauchi State Students (NUBASS) joined the chorus of condemnation
against the price rises, which NUBASS President Mohammed Jungudo described as a
trigger to inflation.
They expressed their
views at a protest march in Bauchi.
Jungudo said the
students have no option than to resort to confrontation if the prices are not
reversed.
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