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•Labour suspends strike
From John Adams, Minna
Hoodlums, yesterday, hijacked a protest by fish vendors and looted food items from trucks stuck in traffic,along Kaduna road in Suleja area of Niger State.
What started as a peaceful protest was taken over by hoodlums,who took the advantage of the protest to loot and steal foodstuffs from Abuja bound trucks.
The trucks were said to have run into barricaded road by protesters and were held up in the traffic as a result of the protest along the ever busy Abuja-Kaduna highway in Gauraka town, a suburb of Suleja, when the hoodlums unleashed terror and looted the entire trucks
It was gathered that the fish sellers were protesting the sudden increase in the price of a carton of frozen fish which they said jumped from N34,000 to N48,000 making it difficult for many of them to get the desired quantity they wanted.
The fish sellers which included women, began the protest at about 10:00am and walked through the road causing traffic holdup on the ever-busy highway, but was later hijacked by hoodlums who sighted the foodstuff carrying trucks on the traffic.
The youths stormed a vehicle loaded with pineapples and other fruits and tried to loot it but the driver was able to maneuver his way from the traffic gridlock and escaped from the scene.
According to a witnes, the youths quickly moved to some trucks loaded with foodstuff, including rice and noddles and looted everything in the trucks as the drivers watch helplessly.
It took the intervention of soldiers and other security agents who shot sporadically into air on arrival at the scene to bring the situation under control as the looters took to their heels with their stolen items.
Niger State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Wasiu Abiodun who confirmed the incident,said that the security agencies were able to bring the situation under control.
“There was a protest this morning along Kaduna Road, Suleja, and the protest plan was not communicated to the police. It was later discovered to be hijacked by some miscreants who blocked the highway.
“Area commander Suleja, ACP Sani Musa, mobilized patrol teams to the scene, dispersed the protesters, and the highway was cleared for free flow of traffic. However, monitoring continues”, he said.
Two weeks ago, the youths in the local government wanted to protest over the current hardship in the country, but the intervention of elders in the local government saved the situation.
Meanwhile, the state chapter of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), announced suspension of the two days old strike embarked upon by workers.
The organised labour in a joint statement signed by the chairman of the NLC and the TUC, Idris A. Lafene and Ibrahim Gana, respectively, directed all civil servants in the state and the local government to resume work immediately.
The labour in the statement,said the decision to suspend the strike followed agreements reached with the government on their demands.
“The SEC unanimously resolved after a robust deliberation on all the issues in contention, that gains of the struggle are sufficient for suspension of the ongoing action to allow for continuation of discussion.
“Accordingly all workers in the state and the local government are directed to resume work immediately”, the statement said.
The organized labour had declared an indefinite strike following the inability of government to meet their demands on a number of issues, which included wage award to civil servants in the state and local government areas, consequential adjustment for TSSU, payment of annual leave allowance and the refund of the 10 percent Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS), among others.
