By Victor Ahiuma-Young
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has threatened to embark on a solidarity strike with teachers and other workers if governments fail to urgently address worsening insecurity and the increasing abduction of pupils, students and education workers across the country.
NLC President, Joe Ajaero, expressed the union’s position in a statement on Wednesday, while backing the ongoing industrial action by the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), which is protesting the rising spate of school kidnappings nationwide.
He described Nigeria as becoming a “horror scene” due to repeated abductions and attacks on vulnerable citizens.
“The Nigeria Labour Congress wishes to express solidarity with the striking members of NUT over the serial cases of abduction of its members and students/pupils,” Ajaero said.
He added that the teachers’ action reflects their determination to protect themselves and their students in the face of escalating insecurity.
“The national and well-coordinated action represents the resolve of teachers to take their destiny into their own hands instead of waiting to be slaughtered,” he said.
Ajaero commended the leadership of the NUT for what he described as a courageous decision to withdraw services nationwide.
He also expressed concern over the safety of teachers, pupils, students, and other frontline workers such as health personnel and local government staff who, he said, are increasingly targeted by criminal groups.
The NLC president lamented the graphic reports of abducted schoolchildren, particularly in Oyo State, describing them as deeply distressing.
“As a nation, we cannot continue to fold our hands while this horror continues to play out from Zamfara to Oyo, and from Maiduguri to Port Harcourt,” he said.
He warned that the NLC would not hesitate to mobilise for a solidarity action if governments fail to take concrete steps to improve security.
“We will not hesitate to embark on a solidarity action with the teachers or any other group of workers if government does not take issues of collective security more seriously,” he stated.
Ajaero said the labour union had consistently engaged on security issues, including organising summits and protests, insisting that the situation is deteriorating despite repeated assurances from authorities.
He called on governments at all levels to move beyond statements of assurance and take measurable action to rescue abducted victims and prevent further attacks.
