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The Organised Labour on Monday made good its threat by starting nationwide strike over a new national minimum wage for workers and reversal of the recently hiked electricity rate.
Initially some schools opened as early as 8 a.m., welcoming students in large numbers.
DAILY POST reports that some schools around the Asokoro Extension area of the FCT conducted their regular morning routines, including attending assembly in preparation for classes.
However, it was learned that the schools were later directed to close down in compliance with the nationwide strike.
Similarly, commercial banks along the AYA axis of Abuja were all closed to customers due to the industrial action by the organized labour.
A security guard at Access Bank situated along the AYA axis said the bank was closed due to the ongoing strike.
When asked why the bank was closed, the guard, who refused to disclose his name, said, “The bank is closed due to the ongoing strike; sorry, you can’t come in.”
Another security guard from UBA said, “Our salary is too small, so we are going on strike. We need more money. Banks are closed.”
Complying with the directive, members of the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) on Monday locked out judges, lawyers, staff and litigants from accessing courts in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) check at the FCT High Court, Maitama; Federal High Court (FHC); Court of Appeal; and the Supreme Court, showed that court activities were totally paralysed as JUSUN members positioned themselves outside the heavily locked gates.
Private security guards and few police officers were also sighted around the court gates as lawyers, litigants, visitors, including journalists, were not allowed entry into the courts’ premises.
Comrade Samuel Ikpatt, Chairman of the FHC Chapter of JUSUN, in an interview with NAN, said the union was in total compliance with the directive of the NLC that workers should down tool beginning from today.
“We are the affiliate of NLC. So we are in total compliance with the strike action, including all our divisions,” he said
According to him, no court is sitting.
When asked if lawyers are being allowed to gain access into the high-rise building, he said: “There is nobody inside the courts because we are in total compliance with the directive.”
On when the gate would be opened, Ikpatt said: “Until when we get directive from our parent body, which is tye NLC.”
Also speaking, Comrade Mohammed Danjuma-Yusuf, who is the Treasurer of JUSUN Chapter of Court of Appeal, told NAN that they were complying with the NLC’s directive.
“So Court of Appeal is in total shutdown; 100 per cent compliance. All the 20 branches of Court of Appeal is in total shutdown.
“Nobody is allowed in, even judges,” he said.
Danjuma-Yusuf said the gate would be opened when the union received a directive from the national headquarters of NLC.
Also some civil servants who went to the Federal Secretariat Abuja, which provides office space for civil servants, could not access their offices as a result of the strike action.
Some commuters, who got transport to the city, were having transportation moving around because of the strike. They had to resort to trekking.
Also the entry points of some of the nation’s airports were blocked on Monday morning due to the nationwide strike.
Intending travellers who made their ways to the various airports especially the Murtala Mohammed International Airport MMA 1 and 2 in Lagos were left stranded on Monday as all entry points into the domestic terminal were inaccessible to the people.
It was gathered that all the unions in the aviation industry are united in the struggle hence they joined in the strike.
The unions are the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE), the Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN), the Association of Nigerian Aviation Professionals (ANAP), and the National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE) as well as Association of Nigeria Aviation Professionals (ANAP)
The situation was not different in Abuja as passengers travelling from the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport were left stranded at the airport as the offices were shut.
At Sam Mbakwe International Cargo Airport Owerri, passengers who wanted to travel to various destinations within the country were left stranded as the gates leading to the premises were shut by aviation unions.
All other airports in the country are reported to have witnessed the same situation on Monday morning.