The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has threatened to shut down the country through a nationwide solidarity strike if governments at all levels fail to decisively address the worsening security crisis.
In a strongly-worded statement signed by its President, Joe Ajaero, the apex labour union threw its full weight behind the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), which is currently embarking on an industrial action.
The strike is a direct protest against the incessant and traumatizing abduction of students and educators across the country, particularly highlighted by recent incidents in Oyo State.
Expressing deep outrage, Ajaero commended the NUT leadership, led by Comrade Titus Audu Amba, for taking a courageous stand to protect lives rather than waiting to be “slaughtered to the last person.” The NLC noted that the strike should serve as a harsh wake-up call to authorities to dismantle the booming “insecurity industry” that now paralyzes daily life.
According to the congress, the action by the teachers reflects a desperate but necessary resolve by citizens to take their destiny into their own hands while operating under the constant fear of criminal attacks.
The labour movement particularly expressed heartbreak over distressing images emerging from the forests of Oyo State, where kidnapped schoolchildren are reportedly being held and tortured by bandits.
Ajaero warned that this security failure is no longer confined to isolated regions but has metastasized into a national crisis, stretching from Zamfara to Port Harcourt.
The NLC recalled its previous interventions, including organizing national security summits and defiant street protests, as proof that it had long warned the government about the imminent collapse of public confidence in state protection.
Beyond the education sector, the NLC raised the alarm over the extreme vulnerability of other essential workers, including doctors, nurses, and local government employees who serve in remote, high-risk communities.
The union lamented that despite repeated and hollow assurances from authorities, major mass abductions have persisted unabated in states like Plateau and Kogi.
This continuous wave of violence, the NLC stated, is clear evidence that the government is currently losing the war against bandits and criminal cartels.
Concluding the statement, the NLC demanded that political leaders move past the routine ritual of issuing condolences and claiming to be “on top of the situation,” urging them to deploy measurable, concrete strategies instead.
The labour center issued a passionate, final ultimatum for the immediate and unconditional rescue of all citizens currently in captivity. “Free the abductees now, wherever they are held,” Ajaero declared, reinforcing that the organised labour movement remains on high alert to enforce its threat should the government’s inaction persist.
