Strike enters day two, union leader rearrested

The President of Nigeria’s umbrella labour union, Adams Oshiomhole, who was charged for public order offences and released on bail, was rearrested by the police on Thursday as a general strike to protest a hike in fuel prices, entered the second day. Oshiomhole was addressing a rally called by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) in the capital Abuja, on Wednesday, to mark the start of the general strike when he was arrested by policemen who fired tear gas to disperse the crowd. He was later charged with 11 colleagues at a magistrates court and granted bail. "He was arrested again by policemen this morning on his way to the airport to board a flight to Lagos," Secretary-General of NLC, John Odah, told IRIN. He added that dozens of labour leaders had also been arrested nationwide by the security forces in an attempt to break the strike. Schools, banks, shops and offices remained shut on Thursday in most cities across the country of 120 million people. In the commercial capital, Lagos, the country’s main seaport which is also the largest in West Africa, remained closed for the second day as most people stayed at home fearing an outbreak of violence. Odah said the heavy-handed tactics of President Olusegun Obasanjo’s government towards the labour leaders will strengthen the determination of the unions and make the resolution of the issues that led to the strike more difficult. A high court judge ruled in Abuja on Wednesday that the strike was illegal on the grounds that appropriate legal procedures were not followed by the labour unions in declaring their action. But the ruling has been largely ignored by workers who continued to stay away from work. In some parts of the country street boys and hoodlums seized the opportunity to unleash violence. A local education authority building on the outskirts of Abuja was ransacked and burnt by a mob of youths yesterday, while in Lagos angry youths smashed the windscreens of motorists that ventured out onto the streets in some parts of the city. Since his election in 1999, Obasanjo has been seeking to increase fuel prices as part of an economic liberalisation package agreed with the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. In June last year, the government effected 50 percent increases in fuel prices but was forced to reverse the measure after a one-week general strike called by the NLC.