Connect with us

News

NLC, NUT Move Against Wike Over Teacher’s Strike

Published

on

Spread the love

 

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Council, and the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), FCT Wing, have dismissed Minister Nyesom Wike’s threat to enforce the no-work, no-pay policy against striking workers.

 

Mr Knabayi Adalo, Chairman of the NLC FCT Council, and Mrs Margaret Jethro, Secretary of the NUT FCT Wing, stated their positions in separate circulars to members at the weekend.

In the circulars made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Monday, they described the directive as “unconstitutional, illegal, provocative and unenforceable”.

Wike, the FCT minister, had on Friday directed area council chairmen to enforce the no-work, no-pay policy against workers participating in the strike.

The directive followed the indefinite strike declared by the NLC on Oct. 7 over unresolved issues between the FCT Administration and the NUT.

The minister also directed the FCT Head of Civil Service, principals and headteachers to open daily attendance registers to track absentees.

Reacting, Adalo urged affected workers and teachers to remain steadfast and disregard threats of salary stoppage or attendance monitoring.

Reassuring workers across the FCT, he stressed that strike action remained a legitimate tool recognised under Nigerian law and international labour standards.

“Section 40 of the 1999 Constitution, the Trade Unions Act, and ILO Conventions 87, 98 and 151, all ratified by Nigeria, guarantee workers’ right to embark on strike after due process.

“The NLC FCT has fulfilled all legal conditions,” Adalo stated.

Addressing the threat to withhold salaries, the labour chairman argued that the no-work, no-pay rule under Section 43 of the Trade Disputes Act applied only to illegal strikes.

He asserted that employers could not profit from their own wrongdoing when they created conditions necessitating industrial action.

According to him, the FCT Administration provoked the strike by violating teachers’ rights through the imposition of a vacancy clause on their promotions.

“Another issue is the demotion of directors who are legitimate beneficiaries of the Harmonised Retirement Age for Teachers Act, 2022,” he said.

Adalo also cited previous judgments by the National Industrial Court of Nigeria, which he said supported workers’ entitlement to salaries in certain circumstances involving legitimate strikes.

He maintained that salaries could not lawfully be withheld when workers participated in a legitimate strike triggered by an employer’s breach of agreement.

Responding to reports that some school heads were forcing teachers to sign attendance registers, Adalo directed union members to refuse to sign them.

He argued that attendance registers opened during a strike had no legal value and served only as a trap to divide workers.

“Participation in a union-declared strike is lawful industrial action, not absenteeism.

“Workers facing queries, threats or harassment are instructed to report immediately to the NLC FCT Council Secretariat with evidence,” he said.

Adalo warned that principals or headteachers who forced teachers to sign attendance registers or submitted lists for punitive action would be held personally responsible.

He added that such administrators would be targeted for picketing by the union.

He maintained that the FCT Administration should address the core grievances rather than resort to intimidation.

He demanded the immediate removal of the vacancy clause, the conduct of the 2025 promotion exercise and the full reinstatement of demoted directors.

“We assure all teachers and workers that the NLC will protect your jobs and salaries. No worker will be victimised,” Adalo affirmed.

Jethro also described the no-work, no-pay directive as illegal and an empty threat, urging teachers not to resume duties out of fear.

“We must remain resolute. Do not chicken out; we must fight this battle together and now.

“We urge you not to panic, not to be intimidated and not to sign any attendance register. Shun the threat; the ongoing strike is legal and constitutionally guaranteed.

“Our demands are genuine and not political, as is being insinuated. We are asking for our welfare, not for power,” she said.

The secretary thanked teachers for complying with the strike in the interest of their welfare, despite what she described as a “betrayal” by the Academic Staff Union of Secondary Schools (ASUSS).

She accused the union of betraying teachers by withdrawing from the strike.

“We urge you to remain peaceful and law-abiding while you stay at home,” she said. (NAN)

News

Okada Thief Impersonating Police Inspector Arrested

Published

on

Spread the love

 

A suspected motorcycle thief allegedly impersonating a police inspector has been arrested in Adamawa State.

 

The state Police Command said 36-year-old Habila Ibrahim was arrested over an alleged attempt to steal a motorcycle and impersonate a police inspector in Girei Local Government Area.

The Command said: “On 10th October 2026, operatives of Girei Divisional Police Headquarters, while on crime-prevention patrol along the Girei–Yola Road, responded to a distress call and intercepted the suspect while attempting to steal a Boxer motorcycle belonging to Alhaji Musa of Wuro Dole, Girei.”

In a statement signed by the state Police Public Relations Officer, SP Suleiman Nguroje, the Command said one complete police uniform and a master key suspected to have been used for motorcycle theft were recovered from the suspect.

“During initial interrogation, he identified himself as Inspector Yakubu Yusuf, claiming to be attached to the Border Patrol Unit at the Sahuda–Cameroon border, in an attempt to evade arrest. He was found in possession of a fake police warrant card and a complete police uniform,” the statement said.

The police added that further investigation revealed that the suspect’s real identity was Habila Ibrahim, reportedly from Blue House, Kasuwan Gada, Vimtim, Mubi North Local Government Area.

“He is suspected to have been involved in motorcycle theft and impersonating security personnel to facilitate theft and defraud members of the public within Girei, Mubi North and Mubi South Local Government Areas,” the statement added.

The Command said the suspect would remain in police custody and be charged in court upon the conclusion of the investigation.

Continue Reading

News

Police Arrest 4 Cultists, Recover Locally Made Gun In Lagos

Published

on

Spread the love

 

Lagos State Police Command has arrested four suspected cultists allegedly terrorising the Lekki, Ajah and Elemoro areas of the state.

 

The suspects were apprehended between October 2 and 9, 2026 following intelligence received by police operatives, according to a statement issued on Tuesday by the command’s spokesperson, Abimbola Adebisi.

The arrested suspects were identified as Arisekola Ojo, 32, Oluwatobi Oyewole, 29, Oluwaseyi Odunewu, 32 and Olumagba Ifatope, 29. They are being investigated over alleged conspiracy and membership of an unlawful society.

The police said investigations led to the recovery of a locally made cut-to-size gun during a search of Odunewu’s residence, following information obtained from the suspects.

According to the command, the suspects have made statements considered useful to the investigation, while efforts are ongoing to track down other individuals allegedly connected to the crimes and recover additional firearms.

The Commissioner of Police in Lagos State, Tijani Fatai, reaffirmed the command’s commitment to dismantling cult groups and other criminal networks operating across the state.

Fatai warned those involved in cultism and other criminal activities to desist or face the full consequences of the law. He also urged residents to provide the police with credible and timely information to help improve security in their communities.

Continue Reading

News

Attacks: Catholic Church Shuts Schools, Hospitals In Benue

Published

on

Spread the love

 

 

The Catholic Diocese of Gboko, Benue State, has ordered the suspension of church institutions, including schools and hospitals, in Ihugh, Vandeikya Local Government Area, LGA, over repeated attacks, arson, burglary and alleged harassment of its personnel.

 

The affected institutions are St Winifred Secondary School, St Winifred Nursery and Primary School, St Thomas Hospital, including Salus Mind Care Center and its chaplaincy, and St Winifred Parish.

The Diocese also ordered the withdrawal of priests, Reverend Sisters, teachers, medical personnel and other workers from the institutions, effective October 12, 2026, until further notice.

Ihugh is the hometown of Governor Hyacinth Alia.

The decision was contained in a pastoral letter and decree signed by the Bishop, Most Rev. William Avenya, and the Diocesan Chancellor, Rev. Fr. Marcellinus Wende.

The Diocese said the decision followed repeated attacks, including the burning of St Winifred Secondary School students’ hostels on October 28, 2025; May 10; May 15; and October 11, 2026.

In the letter, it stated: “Over a considerable period, the Catholic institutions in Ihugh have suffered repeated disturbances, attacks and acts of destruction.

“Among these were the recent burning down of the students’ hostels of St Winifred Secondary School, Hugh, on October 28th, 2025; May 10th, 2026; May 15th, 2026; and October 11th, 2026, acts that have destroyed the shelter of young people entrusted to our care, wiped out the labour and sacrifices of many years, and placed the lives and safety of students, teachers, and staff in grave danger.”

It also cited persistent burglaries at St Winifred Parish and criminal incidents at St Thomas Hospital.

The Diocese recalled that during the hospital’s reopening on June 21, 2024, some residents allegedly displayed placards and chanted slogans demanding the withdrawal of the Reverend Sisters.

“The persistent burning down of St Winifred Secondary School students’ hostels was not an isolated event. The consistent burglary issues in St Winifred Parish, Ihugh, the repeated criminal incidents at St Thomas Hospital, Ihugh, and the hooliganism witnessed during the time of the reopening of St Thomas’ Hospital, Ihugh, on 21st June, 2024, wherein the people of Ihugh openly projected placards and chanting slogans that ‘They no longer want the Reverend Sisters to work in Ihugh’,” the letter stated.

It described the incidents as “a systemic pattern of hostility and destruction directed at church-owned properties, alongside arson and harassment.” Each incident has left behind fear, loss and uncertainty among those who serve and are served by the Church.”

Lamenting that its institutions, established to serve the public, had repeatedly been targeted, it said, “The Church exists to bring life. Our schools, hospital and parish in Ihugh were established for the good of all, irrespective of creed or origin. It is therefore a source of profound grief that works meant for the common good have repeatedly become targets.”

The Diocese said it had engaged the host community, traditional rulers, elders and security authorities in efforts to resolve the crisis.

“The Church does not take the path of withdrawal lightly, nor in haste. The Lord instructs us to be peacemakers, and we have laboured to be so. At every stage we sought dialogue rather than confrontation and reconciliation rather than recrimination.

“The Diocese has met with the host community, engaged the traditional rulers and elders of the land, and brought these grievances before the relevant civil and security authorities, all in the hope of finding a just and lasting peace.

“We have listened, we have appealed, and we have waited patiently. Sadly, these sincere efforts have not yielded the peace, security and guarantees that the continued presence of our institutions requires.”

The Diocese directed the withdrawal of all pastoral and other personnel from the institutions and warned that nobody could resume duties in its name in Ihugh without the Bishop’s written authorisation.

It said students would be assisted to continue their education in other Catholic schools, while patients at St Thomas Hospital would be referred to other health facilities.

The Diocese also declared Friday, October 23, 2026, a day of prayer and fasting for reconciliation. “We invite all the faithful of the Diocese to a season of earnest prayer and penance for the restoration of peace in Ihugh and in all our communities,” the letter stated.

Continue Reading

Trending

Copyright © 2026 TheColumn NG