The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has said that if any of its members are attacked during the planned two-day protest starting on February 27, 2024, they will shut down services across the entire country.
NLC issued the stern warning in a statement released on Sunday and signed by its President, Joe Ajaero.
In it, Ajaero up held that there is no turning back from their intended industrial action.
The NLC further demanded that the Federal Government take decisive action by implementing the agreements made with Organised Labour and urgently address the escalating economic crisis faced by Nigerians.
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The nation is battling with rising inflation, food price increases, a forex crisis, and the high cost of living—all exacerbated by the removal of petrol subsidies, which has sparked protests in various regions.
READ ALSO: DSS Alerts NLC About Plans to Disrupt Protest
NLC Boss said:
“All we are saying now is that; let there be food for the people, let the people live in safety, let the people live a life of dignity devoid of suffocating IMF/World Bank economic policies.
“We would want the State to know that the solution to our horrible economic situation and hunger is not by suppressing peaceful dissent or inflicting violence on peacefully protesting citizens as the government did in Minna and other cities where its agents tear-gassed and beat up women before locking them up for raising their voice against hunger.
“It does not lie in the deployment of State -sponsored terror. The pangs of hunger cannot be cowed by bullets or tear gas.
“In light of this, we at the Nigeria Labour Congress and civil society allies are moving ahead with our protest rallies against economic hardship and insecurity in line with the decision of the National Executive Council.
“We advise the State to put on its thinking cap and find solutions to the pains it continues to cause the people instead of further dehumanising them.
“However, if it is irrevocably set on the path of violence against us and other peace-loving Nigerians, it will be making a costly mistake because if we are attacked there will be a total shut down via withdrawal of services by workers.
“Let no one be deceived, we and other deprived Nigerians cannot easily be intimidated.”
