The expansive State Secretariat in the Adamawa State capital, Yola, became a ghost town Tuesday afternoon after officials of the state branch of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, went out to enforce the nationwide strike called by the national leadership of the union.
Other public offices and institutions with staff affiliated to the NLC, including banks and government hospitals, were similarly shut down and entry barred to staff and members of the public.
An enforcement team from the NLC which comprised members of the state monitoring group had embarked on an enforcement drive, going from office to office to ensure that nobody worked.
The enforcement effort however did not start untill just before noon, after a meeting by the state leadership of the union.
“We started enforcement late. We wanted to be very sure of the national’s position because of the court order,” the NLC state chairman, Emmanuel Fashe explained.
The enforcement team, led by Vice- Chairman of the NLC, Usman Babbada who doubles as the State Chairman of Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria, visited the State Secretariat, the Federal Secretariat and Yola Specialist Hospital, among other places, where activities were shut down.
The national leadership of the NLC had on Monday announced the commencement of the nationwide industrial action following an assault on the union’s President, Joe Ajaero, in Owerri, earlier on November 1 during a protest against the Imo State Government over alleged maltreatment of workers.
