The Nigeria Labour Congress has warned the Federal Government about the withheld salaries of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities and the Non-Academic Staff Union of Universities and Allied Institutions.
The NLC stated that if the government does not resolve this issue, a nationwide protest will occur.
In a statement by Benson Upah, the NLC’s Head of Public Affairs, the congress emphasized the seriousness of the situation. “The government will court a nationwide protest if it fails to heed our warnings,” Upah said.
The NLC also criticized the Commissioner of Police for the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Bennett Igweh, for allegedly harassing the protesting university workers. Earlier reports indicated that the Nigeria Police had stopped a protest organized by the Joint Action Committee of SSANU and NASU in Abuja.
When the leadership of JAC tried to address their members at Unity Fountain before moving to the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Labour and Employment to present letters to the ministers, Commissioner Bennett Igweh intervened and prohibited the protest.
The police used an armored vehicle and a Hilux van to block the entry and exit gates, preventing the protest.
Despite attempts by union leaders to persuade the police to allow the protest, they were unsuccessful. Some non-teaching staff members wanted to resist the police directive, but their leaders calmed them down to avoid violence.
The NLC expressed its outrage over the police’s actions. “The FCT Police Commissioner, Compol Bennett Igweh, deservedly earned our outrage and contempt by violently breaking up a peaceful protest at Unity Fountain on Thursday, July 18, 2024, by members of two of our affiliates, NASU and SSANU,” the NLC said.
“The behavior of the police is an affront to the 1999 constitution (as amended), ILO Conventions 87 and 98, and the African Charter on People and Human Rights, which guarantee freedom of association and speech. It is a violation of the Supreme Court ruling that citizens do not need the permit or approval of the police to peacefully protest and an insult to the dignity of self-respecting and law-abiding citizens.”
The NLC highlighted the reason for the peaceful protest. “The reason for the peaceful protest by NASU and SSANU is very much in the public domain, which is the non-payment of their four months’ withheld salaries after workers in other unions were paid for the same strike action. The two unions had exhausted all lawful means over a long period, including a warning strike, to get their salaries paid.”
