Minimum Wage Delay: Labour Urged To Declare Nationwide Strike
Photo Credit:Vanguard Newspapers
The Campaign for Democratic and Workers’ Rights, CDWR, has called on Ogranised Labour to immediately mobilise and declare a nationwide strike over the minimum wage and the recent hike in electricity tariff.
According to CDWR, Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, and Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, TUC, as the next step in the minimum wage struggle, should declare and mobilise widely for a 48-hour general strike and mass protest to demand a minimum wage not less than N200, 000 and the reversal of all anti-poor policies (privatization, deregulation, subsidy removal, electricity tariff hike etc).
In a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Chinedu Bosah, CDWR recalled that NLC and TUC had been at loggerheads with the government and private sector over a new minimum wage, and negotiation has been deadlocked for over three weeks and still counting, saying Government and Private Sector insistence on paying N60, 000 provoked the declaration of an indefinite strike which started on June 3rd 2024 but was suspended on the 4th of June, 2024.
The group contended that “The mass protest of mostly young people has just forced the Ruto-led government in Kenya to withdraw the IMF/World Bank-inspired tax increment policy.
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Bandits Kill 1, kidnap 4 In Abuja
Photo Credit:The Sun Newspapers
Bandits, in the early hours of yesterday, renewed their onslaught on Bwari Area Council in the nation’s capital. At least, one person was reportedly killed, and four others kidnapped. The incident happened in the Guto area of Bwari.
The attack which began around 12:30 am on the fringes of Guto and Piyawe communities, was extended to Tudun-Fulani and Sabon Gari areas, both within the headquarters of Bwari Area Council.
Witnesses claimed that two separate groups had invaded the area council, with kidnappers numbering over 30 surrounding the communities and shooting sporadically, forcing their way into people’s homes.
Witnesses further alleged that the invaders came into the Piwaye through the swamps and made their way to Guto and Piyawe, where they kidnapped a man and killed a woman in her mid 40.
The deceased, whose name was simply given as Madam Alice, was said to have only visited her sick mother who stays with her brother in Bwari, where she unfortunately met her death.
Two victims were allegedly abducted from their homes in Guto, while another person was kidnapped from Tudun-Fulani, which is less than a kilometre away from the council secretariat.
A resident, who pleaded anonymity, said the attackers operated from 12:30 am to 2:30 am with no challenge from the security agents.
“What happened last night was very unfortunate. We couldn’t sleep from 12:30 am when they started till almost three o’clock.”
Cholera Hits Kirikiri Prison, Katsina Records 118 suspected Cases
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The Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Prof Akin Abayomi, on Sunday, disclosed that 25 cases of severe gastroenteritis confirmed to be caused by cholera were reported at Kirikiri Medium Security Prison.
The development was against the claim by the Nigerian Correctional Service on Wednesday, June 26, 2024, that the custodial centres nationwide were free of cholera.
The NCoS spokesman, Abubakar Umar, speaking with The PUNCH, had stated that the routine hygienic measures put in place in the correctional centres had helped to keep cholera out.
However, in a statement on Sunday, signed by the Director of Public Affairs, Lagos State Ministry of Health, Tunbosun Ogunbanwo, the commissioner reported “a small outbreak of 25 cases of severe gastroenteritis confirmed to be caused by cholera.”
He said urgent medical and environmental measures had been implemented successfully.
Meanwhile, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention also recorded 118 suspected cholera cases in Katsina State.
Available data from the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention showed as of June 24, 2024, there were 1,528 suspected cholera cases, 65 confirmed cases and 53 deaths across 107 local government areas in 31 states, reflecting a case fatality rate of 3.5 per cent since the beginning of the year.
US, UN Condemn Borno Bombing, Tinubu Vows To Crush B’Haram
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The United Nations and the United States of America, on Sunday, condemned Saturday bomb attacks in Tashan Mararaba, Gwoza town, Borno State, claiming the lives of at least 18 persons.
The attacks, carried out by suspected female suicide bombers, struck a wedding, a hospital, and a funeral in Gwoza, a town near the border with Cameroon.
According to the Borno State Police Command spokesman, Nahum Daso, on Sunday, three blasts took place on Saturday in Gwoza.
President Bola Tinubu, in a statement on Sunday by the Presidency, said his administration would redouble its efforts “to ensure that those who trouble the nation, dispatching precious lives, and disrupting law and order are completely removed.”
A security analyst and counter-insurgency expert, Zagazola Makama, told PUNCH Online that the bomber, later identified as a young lady in her early twenties, detonated her explosive device in the middle of the gathering, causing chaos and destruction.
Intelligence sources told Makama that the victims, who were all civilians, were returning from a wedding celebration when the attack occurred near a busy motorpark.
Emergency services rushed to the scene to rescue those injured and transport them to the hospitals in Gwoza.