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From Adanna Nnamani, Abuja
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has thrown its weight behind the ongoing nationwide strike by members of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), describing the action as a necessary response to the growing wave of abductions targeting teachers, pupils, and students across the country.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, the NLC President, Joe Ajaero, expressed solidarity with the striking teachers, saying the coordinated industrial action showed their determination to protect themselves rather than continue to face escalating security threats.
Ajaero said the strike also served as a strong message to governments at all levels to take the country’s worsening security situation more seriously.
The labour leader commended the NUT leadership, led by Titus Amba, for making a thoughtful and courageous decision to draw attention to the plight of teachers and students who had increasingly become targets of kidnappers and bandits.
He noted that the NLC’s concern extended beyond teachers to other vulnerable workers, including local government employees, doctors, nurses, and other health workers who often fell victim to criminal attacks in different parts of the country.
Ajaero expressed concern over the recent abduction of pupils in Oyo State, describing images of the victims in captivity as heartbreaking. He warned that insecurity had reached alarming levels across the country, citing incidents from Zamfara, Plateau, Kogi, Maiduguri, and Port Harcourt.
The NLC president warned that the Congress could embark on solidarity actions with teachers and other workers if governments failed to take decisive measures to address insecurity.
He recalled that the NLC had organised security summits and nationwide protests in recent years to draw attention to the worsening situation, including a protest held in 2024 despite opposition from some government quarters.
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According to him, the labour movement had repeatedly warned about the dangers posed by unchecked banditry and mass abductions, stressing that recent incidents suggested the country was yet to gain the upper hand against criminal groups.
While acknowledging the operational challenges faced by security agencies, Ajaero urged governments to move beyond assurances and condolence messages and instead deliver concrete and measurable results.
He also called for the immediate rescue of all abducted persons currently being held by kidnappers.
“As a nation, we cannot continue to fold our hands while this horror movie continues to play, from Zamfara to Oyo, from Maiduguri to Port Harcourt.
“We will not hesitate to do a solidarity action with the teachers or any other group of workers if the government does not take more seriously the issues of our collective security.
“Our concern for our collective security has never been in doubt. In the past couple of years, we have organised two security summits, street protests, the last one being in 2024 against all pressure from government circles not to hold it.
“In the aftermath of the Oriire abductions in Oyo State, we had issued a statement not only condemning the despicable action; we drew the attention of the government for the umpteenth time to the growing danger of the citizenry switching loyalty to bandits and the need for it to deal with the situation before it spins out of control.
“Since then, other major group abductions have taken place in Plateau, Kogi, and other places, underscoring the fact that, for now, we are not winning this war. It is heartbreaking.
“We recognise the tricky operational situation in Oyo. We nonetheless use this opportunity to once again call on the government at all levels to rise beyond the ritual of ‘we are on top of the situation’ and condolence messages to concrete and measurable action. Free the abductees now, wherever they are held!” the statement read in part.
