True to its threat the Nigerian Labour Congress bared its fangs as it took to the streets accompanied by civil society groups, and in some cases students to protest the hike in price of fuel.
Unfortunately, the protest that greeted the Federal Government’s removal of fuel subsidy may have claimed its first victims, as the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) says one person has been shot dead during the demonstration against subsidy removal in Kwara state, Nigeria’s north-central region.
In a press statement signed by its National President, Comrade Abdulwahed Omar, the union cautioned the Federal Government against the use of brute force and arms against unarmed Nigerians publicly protesting the hike in fuel prices.
There were also protests in Ibadan the Oyo state capital, in Nigeria’s south-west as well as in kano state in the north west, while in Borno state in the north east, any form of protest may have been forestalled by the prevailing state of emergency.
Back here in Lagos, hundreds of protesters, made their indignation felt in ways that left no one in doubt as to their rage over the government decision.
A procession that had a pot-pouri of labour leaders, and civil rights activists started up from the NLC office in a rather small number, but their ranks swelled as more people joined the protesters as they progressed
