As Nigerian workers are warming up for a total shutdown on February 27 and 28, the country’s secret police, the Department of State Services (DSS) wants the protest cancelled “in the interest of peace and public order.”
On Friday, Feb. 16, the workers’ union declared a two-day nationwide mass protest to press the government to address the economic turbulence that has seen the naira weaken by the day and Nigerians paying more for food items.
The DSS thinks this is a bad idea. “The development, without doubt, will worsen the socio-economic situation across the country,” Peter Afunanya, the DSS’ director of public relations and strategic communications noted on Wednesday.
Afunanya said the DSS is opposed to violence as a means of settling the present-day challenges in Nigeria, and, therefore, counselled the labour union to make their demands known to the authorities through dialogue.
But Joe Ajaero, the national president of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), laughed off the plea. He maintained that the upcoming protest, which is “against the unpardonable cost of living” rocking the country, will go ahead as planned.
—Ezinwanne Onwuka reports for TruthNigeria from Abuja.
