Nigerian strikers reject fuel offer Nigerian trade unions have rejected a compromise deal which the government had hoped would halt a national strike prompted by a fuel price rise. The main oil workers' union has promised to join the strike, which has already closed schools, hospitals and banks. But after several hours of talks with the main trade union body, the leader of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Adams Oshimole, rejected the offer. The NLC is demanding an outright return to the old price of 20 naira per litre.
Oil companies have in the past deployed management staff to fill in for striking union members.
On Wednesday a general strike call by the unions led to the closure of banks, schools and hospitals across the country. The indefinite strike call was widely observed in the south-west, with the centre of the commercial capital, Lagos, virtually deserted. Witnesses said protesters were barricading roads into the main business districts. Similar scenes were reported in Ibadan. In the capital, Abuja, and in the northern city of Kaduna, businesses were reported to be open as usual, although government workers obeyed the strike call.