Police teargas protesters as strike enters third day

Anti-riot police fired tear gas and shot in the air to disperse a rally by trade unionists in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, on Wednesday as a nationwide strike to protest fuel price increases entered the third day. Union officials had called the rally at the city's main market to persuade traders who had begun to reopen their shops to continue with the shut down, witnesses said. "There was a stampede after police appeared shooting tear gas at people and firing in the air, and many people were injured," Ike Omenwa, a market trader, told IRIN Negotiations between representatives of the umbrella trade union, Nigeria Labour Congress, and officials of President Olusegun Obasanjo's government remained deadlocked on Tuesday but were scheduled to resume on Wednesday. John Odah, secretary general of the NLC, said both parties were not yet close to an agreement. "We have no choice but to continue with the strike," he told IRIN. The white-collar Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) said in a statement late on Tuesday it would move to shut down vital oil exports from Sunday if the government did not reach agreement with the unions. "The on-going negotiations between government and labour must be concluded on or before midnight Sunday, 6th July, 2003 or we will face total shut down of operations in the oil and gas industry," the statement said. PENGASSAN accused the government of deliberately refusing to fix the country's broken down refineries and abetting corrupt practices by top officials involved in import of refined petroleum products. Life was returning to previously deserted streets in Nigeria's major cities on Wednesday, with some shops and grocery markets opening for business. But banks, offices and major businesses remained closed. The unions called the strike protest after the government raised petrol prices by 54 percent on 20 June, saying Africa's largest oil producer should no longer have to spend US $2 billion a year on subsidising fuel that was already extremely cheap by international standards. But labour leaders said the price increases of more than 50 percent for petrol, diesel and kerosene would only aggravate poverty among Nigeria's 120 million people, 70 percent of whom live on less than one dollar a day.