>From: "Johannes Schneider" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >>From the BBC website: > >http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/africa/newsid_821000/821947.stm > >Thursday, 6 July, 2000, 12:10 GMT 13:10 UK > >A Nigerian civil servant who was taking part in a public sector strike in >the commercial capital, Lagos, has died from tear gas fired by police. >Nigerian public sector workers are in the third week of a strike, demanding >higher salaries. > >Witnesses said the man died when a tear gas canister exploded next to him. > >The police fired tear gas to disperse the striking workers who gathered >outside the main town hall. > >The strike has spread to about 12 of Nigeria's 36 states and has led to the >closure of hospitals and schools. > >On Wednesday, officials in Lagos said they had buried more than 1,000 bodies >that had been left at the mortuary because of the strike, and which were >causing a health hazard. > >Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo has been holding talks to try to >resolve the strike - so far without success. > >Earlier strike success > >Civil servants are likely to have been encouraged by a general strike in >June, which forced the authorities to reverse a sharp increase in petrol >prices. > >The current action began in Lagos, where workers demand a salary of 7,500 >naira ($75) a month for the lowest paid workers, and increments for senior >staff. > >Civil servants are not the only group confronting the authorities. > >Railway workers have also been on strike, and hundreds of retired soldiers >have held protests accusing the government of not paying their pensions. > >Trade union leaders say they do not want the strike and blame it on what >they call the uncooperative attitude of the governors. > >Last month a national strike over petrol prices, brought much of the country >to a standstill, and the government backed down. > > > > > > --- from list [EMAIL PROTECTED] --- __________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki - Finland +358-40-7177941, fax +358-9-7591081 e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.kominf.pp.fi ___________________________________ [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe/unsubscribe messages mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] ___________________________________
