Mixed reactions have continued to trail the action of the protesters at the main gate of the National Assembly today, August 2 2023.
Multiple reports revealed that the protest is led by the leaders of organised Labour, Joe Ajaero of the Nigeria Labour Congress and Festus Osifo of the Trade Union Congress
asked security operatives stationed at the legislative building to open the gates to allow the angry workers to express their displeasure.
The President of NLC Joe Ajaero and TUC President Comrade Festus Osifo addressed the protesters at the Federal Ministry of Justice, calling on the Nigerian government to address the suffering being faced by the masses arising from the subsidy removal.
After an altercation between the protesters and security agents, the protesters pulled down the main gate of the complex. The security agents were overpowered by the surging crowd.
The protesters are currently heading to the second gate of the building and have vowed to also pull it down.
Recall that members of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress (TUC) and other aggrieved Nigerians on Wednesday trooped to the streets of Abuja, the nation’s capital to protest against the hardship caused by the removal of fuel subsidy by President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
The protest kicked off from the popular Unity Fountain with members of organized labour displaying placards and banners.
The protesters expressed dissatisfaction with the hikes in fuel prices and the failure of the Tinubu administration to reverse “unfriendly policies targeted against the poor”.
Some of the inscriptions on their placards read: #BringBackOurRefineries; #LetThePoorBreathe; and #ALUTACONTINUA.
The action has stirred reactions on social media as Nigerians share divergent reactions to the action of the protesters.
Read some of the reactions:
@boodabmc
They will be repairing this with 200Million 🤦♂️
@IanKonrade
They pulled down the gate of the most useless institution in Nigeria. Watch them use billions to fix that gate
@Akinjoshua
I pray our government doesn't turn it into a bloodbath ceremony...
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