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Courts, banks, schools comply in Rivers

Banks, courts, and schools in Port Harcourt and surrounding areas have closed in response to the Nigerian Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress' statewide strike.

Organized labour began the walkout when the Federal Government failed to achieve an agreement on a new minimum wage.

Our reporter who went around reports that all banks on Ikwerre Road, Aba Road, Trans-Amadi, and Olu Obasanjo Road are closed.

Some bank customers were spotted attempting to use Automated Teller Machines on the Trans-Amadi and Olu-Obasanjo Roads, however many did not dispense cash.
Also, kids from the Government Secondary School, Borikiri, and the Community Secondary School, Pabod, both in Port Harcourt, were instructed by school officials to return home after being sighted hiking great distances while playing on the road.

When queried, one of the CSS students in Pabod, Port Harcourt, stated, "Our principal has asked us to go home because they are on strike."

The strike was complete in the Rivers State Judiciary Complex on Azikiwe Road and the Customary Court Court Complex, where the entrance was closed.
Members of Nigeria's justice Staff Union set up canopies in front of the justice facility and sat in chairs, chatting.

JUSUN's State Secretary, Rosemary Mbata, told our correspondent that their actions were in accordance with the union's national guideline.

Mbata reported, "This place was closed as early as 6.30 a.m. today." It is the result of the Federal Government and labor's failure to reach an agreement on a new minimum wage.
"There will be no access until we are heard and a fair new minimum wage is agreed upon."

"We recognize that every item that comes before the court is serious and pressing, but they should also understand that we are on strike. It applies to the entire country, not just Rivers State.

"So the FG should listen to us and do the needful."

The situation was not different in the Rivers State Secretariat, which houses all of the ministries, as the entrance was sealed, preventing civil officials from entering.
In a chat with our correspondent, the NLC's state chairman, Alex Agwanwor, stated his satisfaction that the strike has been well implemented.

Agwanwor went on to claim that a monitoring team set up by the state's organized labour is traveling around, and that the Port Harcourt Refining Company and other industries had also closed.

He stated, "There is 100 percent compliance, and we are also monitoring." Our monitoring staff is on the ground to guarantee that employees comply.

"The Federal and State Secretariats are both under lock and key." Employees in banks and the oil and gas industry, such as the Refinery and Petrochemical Company, have no choice but to comply. It is a national directive, thus enforcement will continue until further notice."

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