Defiant NLC protesters pull down National Assembly gate to gain access to lawmakers

The National Assembly (NASS) complex’s first gate was torn down by demonstrators on Wednesday morning, and they pushed their way inside, intensifying the organised labor’s protest against the “anti-people” policies of the President Bola Tinubu administration.

Senators promptly entered a closed-door session as the demonstrators went to the second gate of the Assembly Complex.

In the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, as well as other states of the Federation, including Lagos, Abia, Plateau, Kaduna, Kano, Rivers, Zamfara, Katsina, Cross River, Ebonyi, Enugu, Kwara, Ogun, Imo, Ondo, and Edo, organised labour, including the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress (TUC), and their affiliate unions, today began a protest.

Hundreds of protesters gathered at the Unity Fountain, from which point they marched to the NASS Complex.

Before today’s screening of ministerial nominees, Senate President Godswill Akpabio is anticipated to address the demonstrators.

At the Unity Fountain earlier, NLC President Joe Ajaero told newsmen that “nothing is stopping the protest, not even an overture from the government.”

According to him, the Organised Labour will not end the demonstration until the desired reaction from the administration has been received.

“Whether the protest will be from today, or tomorrow, or next, or until thy kingdom come, it is not by using force,” Ajaero claimed, “will be determined by the response from the states.”

“We are here for the protest and to make a statement that since we started negotiation, that there is nothing we have in our hands,” he said.

On Tuesday, Kayode Egbetokun, the Inspector General of Police, issued a warning against “violent mass protests” across the nation.

A litre of petrol went from costing N184 to almost N620 after Tinubu’s stirring inaugural speech on May 29, 2023, and food prices and overall inflation shot up at an unheard-of rate.

The NLC gave the Federal Government a seven-day deadline last week and demanded that “all anti-poor policies of the Federal Government, including the recent hike in PMS (Premium Motor Spirit) price, increase in public school fees and the release of the eight months withheld salary of university lecturers and workers,” be immediately reversed.

The union also demanded an increase in the minimum salary from N30,000 to N200,000, claiming that since the President’s “subsidy is gone” inaugural speech of May 29, 2023, Nigerians’ sense of security has disappeared.

The Presidency held several fruitless sessions with the unions to discuss relief measures for Nigerians who are struggling economically as a result of the elimination of the petrol subsidy.