AFP. 17 January 2002. Nigerian strike leader arrested again as union defies court ban.
LAGOS -- Nigerian authorities re-arrested the leader of a general strike and rounded up activists Thursday after the labour federation defied a court ban on the strike, union officials said. Adams Oshiomhole, president of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), was arrested for the second time in two days while on his way to the airport in the capital, Abuja, NLC spokesman Chris Uyot told AFP. A high court in Abuja on Wednesday issued an injunction ordering a halt to the strike, which was called in a bid to force down fuel prices, but the NLC on Thursday said the strike action was continuing in defiance of the order. Justice Mohammed Saleh, chief judge of the high court in Abuja, said: "I hereby declare that the strike... (is) not legal and hence its continuation is hereby declared illegal," calling on both sides, the NLC and the government, to reappear in court on January 24. Uyot dismissed the injunction. A meeting of the NLC central working committee, the only union body authorised to declare a suspension, was to take place around midday in Lagos. But Uyot said the meeting, at union headquarters here, would be held to look at ways to strengthen the strike rather than call it off. "We are meeting today to review the situation and marshall plans to reinforce the strike," he said. The re-arrest of Oshiomhole would strengthen the determination of strikers, he said. "We believe that the government is doing everything that is possible to suppress the strike and we are determined to continue," Uyot said. "This action will only strengthen the resolve of the congress to continue with the strike which is supported by the majority of the people," he added. The union official said 19 NLC officials in the northern state of Kaduna were also arrested early Thursday in what appeared to be a major clampdown. "We condemn all these arrests," Uyot said. "We will not respect any arbitrariness. It is the government that is being lawless, not us." "The issue goes beyond legality. ... Our concern is to ensure that the yearnings of Nigerians for better living standards are addressed," he said. The NLC on Wednesday called out millions of workers across Africa's most populous country, closing offices, factories and west Africa's largest port. On Thursday many offices appeared to be re-opening, though often with a skeleton staff, while the buses and taxis which had disappeared from the streets on Wednesday were back on the road. But all the country's ports, including the largest in west Africa, remained closed Thursday as a general strike continued, the head of the country's shipping association told AFP. The main Apapa Port in Lagos, and other ports around the country, were closed on Wednesday and would remain shut until the strike was formally called off, said Val Usifoh, chairman of the Nigerian Shipping Association. The NLC has warned that it will use activists to ensure compliance with the union order. "Our men are on the ground to ensure compliance and before this afternoon, we would have chased them off the roads," he said. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Barry Stoller http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ProletarianNews
