Adedokun Waliyu 
The organised labour’s demands include the immediate reversal of all anti-poor policies of the government including the recent hikes in petrol prices, school fees and VAT.
Human rights activist and candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) in the 2023 presidential election, Omoyele Sowore, on Wednesday, joined the organised labour – the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) – in Lagos State to protest against the rising cost of fuel,, food and other essential commodities.
SaharaReporters earlier reported that the labour unions in Lagos commenced Wednesday’s protest against the removal of subsidy on petrol and other ‘anti-masses policies’ of President Bola Tinubu’s administration at Ikeja, the Lagos State capital.
There was however heavy deployment of security agents around Ikeja Under-bridge in Lagos where the protesters first gathered.
The organised labour’s demands include the immediate reversal of all anti-poor policies of the government including the recent hikes in petrol prices, school fees and VAT.
The labour unions are also asking the government to fix local refineries in Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna; release eight months withheld salaries of university lecturers (members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU) and other workers.
Also, the organised labour is asking the government to accord appropriate recognition and support to the Presidential Steering Committee and the work of its subcommittees to put a stop to anti-people actions and policies of the government.
Meanwhile, SaharaReporters had also reported that the acting Inspector-General of Police, IGP Kayode Egbetokun, had warned that the police would not allow “violent protests.”
The IGP had said: “While being mindful of the right to peaceful protest, as enshrined in our Constitution, the IGP urges all parties involved to ensure that the planned demonstrations are conducted in a peaceful manner to prevent being hijacked by miscreants, owing to the previous ugly experiences of such protests in most major cosmopolitan cities in the country.”
But Sowore who swiftly reacted to the IGP’s warning on Tuesday said that most violence experienced during protests in Nigeria was perpetrated by the police and other security forces.
Sowore said the police and the Nigerian government always violate and push peaceful protests into the path of violence and turn around and blame peaceful protesters.
He said, “It is the Nigerian Police @policeng and other security forces that’ve perpetrated the most violence during protests. It is the Nigerian govt that has always violated and pushed peaceful protests onto the path of violence and then turn around and blame peaceful protesters. Justice for all is not specific enough.”
