Members of the Nigeria Police Force have stepped up security around Unity Fountain in Abuja, the location of the start of the ongoing nationwide protest by workers under the auspices of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC).
The workers, who are spread out across the 36 states that make up the federation, started their protest on Tuesday, warning the federal government to heed their calls and comply with the Academic Staff Union of Universities’ (ASUU) and other three unions’ demands in order to reopen Nigerian universities.
The Nigerian police were strategically positioned at the event, according to reporters, who arrived at Unity Fountain at 7:15 am on Wednesday. This was done in an effort to prevent any breakdown in law and order.
According to one of the officers who spoke to Daily Trust under the condition of anonymity, some of his colleagues had been at the location since Tuesday to plan strategies and fend off potential attacks. He added that they had not just been sent there for the protest.
”We had since been deployed here. In fact, some of my colleagues have been sleeping here since the day that attack happened in Bwari. So, we were not only deployed for this protest alone,” the officer said.
WITHIN NIGERIA reports that the police officers are being joined by their counterparts from the Department of State Services (DSS) and Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).
The national leadership of NLC had on Tuesday via an official memo, directed over 50 unions which are its affiliates to mobilise their members in large numbers and join the protest in the nation’s capital.
The protest, to be led by the NLC President, Ayuba Wabba, enters its second day today. Currently, the labour leaders and members of organised labour have begun to arrive in large numbers.
More details later…