.We’ve settled with Labour, says gov
Soldiers opened fire, yesterday, when suspected hoodlums hijacked trucks loaded with foodstuff in the Suleja area of Niger State.
This was as the state government said it had resolved all contending issues with organised labour after a marathon meeting.
The Guardian gathered that some hoodlums disrupted a protest by fish vendors, and stole food items from trucks stuck in traffic, along Kaduna road in Suleja.
Alhassan Abdullahi, a witness, told newsmen that many trailers coming from Abuja and heading for Kaduna were blocked by the hoodlums who burnt tyres on the road.
He said many bags of food, especially rice, were stolen before soldiers arrived at the scene.
“It took the intervention of soldiers, who started firing gunshots into the air to disperse the hoodlums. Even at that, many of them went away with bags of rice, cartons of noodles and other food items.
“We learnt commercial motorcycle riders are also planning a protest. They would have done it since yesterday, but we do not know what stopped them,” he said.
Confirming the development, yesterday, Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) candidate for the Suleja constituency, Sadiq Bala, said the fish sellers were protesting the rapid increase in prices of fish.
Bala said the fish vendors started the protest about 10am yesterday.
He added: “It was fish sellers that started the protest before it was hijacked by the aggrieved youths, who turned it into a hardship demonstration.
“According to the reports I got from the scene, the price of a carton of fish was N34,000 on Wednesday, but this morning the price rose to N48,000; so, the reaction was in response to the increase.”
Some passers-by, he disclosed, came and took over the protest. “They blocked the busy Abuja-Kaduna road; so, they were able to draw attention.
“They started with pineapples; they hijacked a red Volkswagen carrying pineapples, but the driver was able to escape.”
The development came amid the nationwide hardship that has triggered protests in parts of the country.
On February 16, the leadership of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) scheduled a two-day nationwide mass protest for February 27 and 28.
Meanwhile, Governor Mohammed Bago, who held a closed-door meeting with officials of NLC and Trade Union Congress (TUC), yesterday, told journalists that Labour were initially angry with the government because of its passive response to its demands.
He said after the interface, the government had agreed on the demands of Labour and expected them to call off the strike.
Bago explained that most of the contending issues were inherited from the previous administration, and agreements for final resolutions would be concluded by both parties.
In an unverified statement signed by Idris Lafene of NLC and Ibrahim Gana of TUC, Labour expressed satisfaction with the agreement reached with the government and asked workers to resume at their duty posts.
Some of the agreements reached included the payment of N20,000 to state and local council workers across the board in the month of March and payment of outstanding leave grants within the next six months.
