Hardship Protest: ‘We Did Not Seal Lagos NLC Secretariat’ – Police

The Lagos State Command of the Nigeria Police Force has debunked claims that it sealed the Lagos State office of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) in the lead-up to the union’s protest on Monday.

Debunking the claim, spokesperson of the Lagos police command, Benjamin Hundeyin, detailed that the state commissioner of police, Adegoke Fayoade, only visited the union’s secretariat to address protesters.

Naija News reports that Hundeyin was reacting to the rumour and giving reasons for heightened security upgrades in hotspots around Lagos on Monday.

According to Hundeyin, who spoke with newsmen, the police showed up early at the NLC secretariat and other gathering places to make sure the strike organizers had enough security and to stop thugs from taking over their demonstration.

He said, “The Commissioner of Police, Mr Fayoade addressed the protesters before the procession took off in his presence.

“The procession was peaceful and without any untoward incident,” Hundeyin said, adding that CP Fayoade monitored the security operation and the protest.”

On Monday, heavily armed police officers were spotted in Lagos, specifically in Gani Fawehinmi Park and Ojota, in anticipation of an organized labour demonstration.

To express their disapproval of what they saw as the current hardships faced by Nigerians, the NLC and the Trade Union Congress, TUC, had planned a statewide strike for February 27 and 28.

They claimed that the devaluation of the naira and the withdrawal of fuel subsidies had caused a rise in the cost of goods and services, which had negatively impacted Nigerians.

On Saturday, however, the TUC withdrew from the planned demonstration.