Labour shuts down Abuja, ministers stranded

The Nigeria Labour Congress on Monday shut down the nation's capital in protest against the removal of subsidy.
Ministers and top government officials were left stranded as their drivers joined the strike action.
Apart from workers staying away from work, all filling stations, markets, shops and other businesses were closed.
Despite the presence of about 15,000 policemen, workers converged on Julius Berger Roundabout in the Federal Capital Territory at about 8am for the mass protest.
Under the nose of armed policemen and soldiers, the protesters engaged in solidarity songs and danced to the tunes of the late music legend, Fela Anikulpo Kuti.
But the action was peaceful despite the fact that the workers were restricted to some routes.
The Eagle Square was cordoned off by armored vehicles and security agencies to prevent the workers from having access to it for a rally.
But at a stop over rally in Wuse Market, the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Comrade AbduWahab Omar, asked Nigerians to prepare for a long drawn strike.
He said: "Comrades, we are not going to talk too much. But the message is that Nigerians are saying no to fuel price increase. What organized labour and civil society coalition are saying is that we must revert back to N65.
"Mr. President addressed the nation and in his address which of course was an emergency, he announced a reduction of 25 per cent of the basic salary of political office holders. Comrades, the President is the highest political office holder in Nigeria. His basic salary per annum is N3.5million. Alright if you reduce 25 per cent from N3.5million that means you are reducing about N650, 000.
"Comrades, let us assume that there are 1,000 or 10,000 other political office holders in Nigeria. N650, 000 times 10,000 is only a paltry N65million. Comrades, the President's entertainment alone as provided in this year's proposed budget is N1billion.
"The provision for travels by Mr. President this year is N10billion. If you replicate all these in the same proportion in the states, what we are saying is that that is not what the government don't want. And if that reduction is done will it have any effect on the price of commercial vehicles? Will it have any effect on the goods we buy?”
Source