9th September, 2011
State government offices in Enugu remained under lock and key on Friday following Thursday’s declaration of an indefinite strike by the organised labour in the state, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.
A correspondent of NAN who monitored activities at the state secretariat reports that the place was deserted except for traders and hawkers.
NAN also reports that some banks in the coal city were shut, leaving their customers stranded outside their premises.
Some of the banks shut down included Intercontinental, FinBank, Diamond Bank and First City Monument Bank, all on Garden Avenue in Enugu.
Some customers who were without ATM cards told NAN that they were not aware that the banks would join the strike.
According to them, there was no electricity supply for them to listen to the radio to monitor events as they unfolded.
They described the situation as unfair, adding that the development could stall the economy of a country and frustrate customers of banks.
NAN reports, however, that transport workers and fuel stations operated in spite of the threat by the labour leadership that they would join the strike within 48 hours.
NAN reports that Abdulwaheed Omar, the NLC President, and his counterpart from the TUC, addressed the workers at a rally on Thursday during which they declared an indefinite strike in the state.
The strike followed two weeks of grace to the state government to pay the minimum wage after the workers called off an earlier warning strike.
The state government has, however, declared the strike unnecessary, claiming that it had since implemented the new wage signed by President Goodluck Jonathan on March 23.