{"id":64033,"date":"2025-04-10T11:27:31","date_gmt":"2025-04-10T11:27:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/?p=64033"},"modified":"2025-04-10T11:27:31","modified_gmt":"2025-04-10T11:27:31","slug":"workers-storm-steel-ministry-over-welfare-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/2025\/04\/10\/workers-storm-steel-ministry-over-welfare-crisis\/","title":{"rendered":"Workers Storm Steel Ministry Over Welfare Crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em><strong>By Adenike Lawal<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>Tension escalated in the heart of the Federal Capital Territory yesterday as angry workers, led by the Trade Union Congress (TUC), and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), stormed the Ministry of Steel Development in protest over poor welfare conditions and alleged unfair labour practices.<\/p>\n<p>The demonstrators, led by union leader Eche Asuzu, barricaded the ministry\u2019s headquarters in Wuse 2, completely shutting off access to the building and halting operations.<\/p>\n<p>Armed with bold placards and fiery chants, the protesters demanded immediate attention to what they described as wrongful dismissal of workers and attempts to stifle their rights to organise under union platforms.<\/p>\n<p>Placards bearing slogans such as \u201cBetter Pay Now\u201d and \u201cRespect Workers\u2019 Rights\u201d filled the air as solidarity songs echoed through the streets, amplifying the workers&#8217; frustration.<\/p>\n<p>The protest at the steel ministry comes on the heels of a wave of demonstrations sweeping across the country.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier this week, activists from the Take-It-Back Movement held rallies in Abuja, Lagos, Oyo, and Rivers states, denouncing what they see as heavy-handed government actions, including the controversial state of emergency in Rivers.<\/p>\n<p>As the protest unfolded, it spotlighted deeper issues plaguing Nigeria\u2019s public sector, with workers insisting that fair wages, job security, and respect for union rights are non-negotiable.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This is about justice and dignity for every worker,&#8221; Asuzu declared to reporters at the scene. &#8220;We will not stand by while our rights are trampled.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The federal government and the ministry are yet to issue an official response, but the growing unrest underscores the urgent need for dialogue between authorities and labour leaders to prevent further escalation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Adenike Lawal Tension escalated in the heart of the Federal Capital Territory yesterday as angry workers, led by the Trade Union Congress (TUC), and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), stormed the Ministry of Steel Development in protest over poor welfare conditions and alleged unfair labour practices. The demonstrators, led by union leader Eche Asuzu, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":64034,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[172],"tags":[1712,233],"class_list":["post-64033","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-featued","tag-nlc"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64033","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64033"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64033\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":64035,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64033\/revisions\/64035"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64034"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64033"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64033"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64033"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}