On Monday President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Ayuba Wabba stormed the Kaduna State Secretariat of the labour union and said their five-day warning strike calling for the reinstatement of sacked workers has commenced successfully with the total grounding of activities in the state.
Speaking at the rally, Ayuba said that they took the action because the Kaduna State Government’s action has caused untold hardship on those affected and their families.
“The railways are not working, the airport is shut down, fuel stations are locked, power is cut off and there is massive solidarity,” he said.
Wabba also accused the government of lying over several issues, including talks it said it had with the National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE).
“The Government lied that they called us for a meeting yesterday. I actually received a call around 9pm yesterday for a meeting, I told them to make the invitation formal, but the person that called me later called back saying that the meeting had been cancelled.
“I have the number that called me and recorded the conversation,” he said.
The NLC President added that asides the sacked workers, the increment of school fees at the state-owned university is also an issue troubling the union because most of the children are wards of sacked workers.
“We gathered that about 70 per cent of the children at Kaduna State University (KASU) are Indigenes of Kaduna State and some of their parents have been sacked,” he added.
Speaking further, he said he has also received calls from market traders whose stalls have been demolished and commercial tricycle and okada riders complaining of exorbitant taxing from Kaduna State Traffic Law Enforcement Authority (KASTLEA).
Hundreds of workers and union members were seen with placards with the inscriptions such as: “El-rufai, enough is enough, stop mass sack, workers are not slaveS.”
It will be recalled that the Kaduna State Council of the NLC, penultimate week, had resolved to down tools for five days from Sunday, May 16, as proposed by the National Secretariat, to serve as warning over the sacking of over 4,000 workers in the state; hike in school fees of state-owned tertiary institutions among other issues.
