A significant number of organizations have joined the nationwide strike called by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC).
The NLC and TUC had announced a nationwide strike starting from midnight on November 14.
Festus Osifo, TUC president, stated on Monday that the strike would persist until “governments at all levels wake up to their responsibilities.”
The nationwide strike is a protest against the alleged brutality inflicted on Joe Ajaero, NLC president, in Imo state on November 1. Ajaero was reportedly detained at the Imo council secretariat of the congress in Owerri by heavily armed police.
However, the Imo police command claimed that Ajaero was not arrested but was taken into protective custody to prevent him from being lynched by a mob.
On November 5, the national industrial court in Owerri, the capital of Imo, issued a restraining order against trade unions from embarking on a strike in the state. Additionally, the federal government had obtained an order restraining the unions and their affiliates from going on the strike.
Despite the court order, the trade unions held their ground.
The NLC, in a Facebook post on Tuesday, shared leaflets of some of the organizations that will join the strike.
“For the union makes us strong, forever, we demand justice now!!!!” The NLC posted on Facebook along with flyers. The organizations that have registered to join the strike include the National Union of Electricity Employees, Maritime Workers’ Union of Nigeria (MWUN), National Union of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institutions Employees (NUBIFIE), Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Polytechnics (SSANIP), National Union of Food Beverage and Tobacco Employees, Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP), Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria, and the Nigeria Union of Railway Workers.
Others include the National Union of Postal and Telecommunication Workers, National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT), and Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees.
