NLC Strike: Riots In Lagos Over Fuel Price Hike

Riots have broken out in some parts of Nigeria’s commercial capital of Lagos, as a faction of Nigerian Labour Congress have ahead with an indefinite nationwide strike on Wednesday. 

The Trade Union Congress announced their decision to pull out of the strike after a National Industrial Court issued a restraining order against the strike on Tuesday. 

Many uncertain Lagosians shunned the strike action called over the hike in the pump price of fuel. The government had last week introduced a new price band for gasoline following a partial liberalization of the oil sector. President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration on May 11 increased gasoline prices by 67 percent in order to attract private importers, who will be able to recover their costs and help end fuel shortages that have persisted for months in the country. 

A faction of the NLC led by Comrade Ayuba Wabba had announced that an indefinite strike commences today after its meeting with the Federal Government ended in a deadlock. 

The other faction led by Joe Ajaero had agreed with the Federal Government to set up a joint committee to deliberate on the issue of minimum wage, N500bn social investment and review the N145 new pump price of gasoline. The two factions of the NLC had recently asked for a new minimum wage based on the present economic realities. 

The committee has two weeks to report back in two weeks. While some workers aligned with the Wabba-led faction, several others followed the directive by the Ajaero-led NLC that there would be no strike. 

Hoodlums were believed to have taken advantage of the confusion to create mayhem, smashing windscreens and hurling stones at passing vehicles. Security agencies had since taken control of areas where violence was reported earlier on Wednesday.