Two union leaders in the Federal Ministry of
Power, Works and Housing were arrested and detained on Thursday by the police
following a protest by workers that grounded activities at the Mabushi head
office of the ministry in Abuja.
The protesters alleged that the Minister of
Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, ordered the arrest of their
leaders.
But the minister’s Special Adviser on
Communications, Mr. Hakeem Bello, refuted the claims and stated that the two
union leaders were apprehended by security officers on duty at the time of the
protest.
He also stated that officials of the ministry in the past administration were
fond of using allocations meant for capital projects to settle workers’
welfare, a development which he said made it difficult for the government to
construct roads and pay contractors.
It was gathered that the
Chairman of the National Civil Service Union at the FMPWH, Mr. Aliu
Abdulazeez;
and the Secretary, Mr. Sam Apeh, were arrested for spearheading the protest
that crippled business activities of the ministry and the neighbouring Federal
Ministry of Environment.
The workers closed a
major road leading to different buildings of the ministry, barricaded the gates
of the various structures and stopped vehicular movements into the different
car parks of ministry.
They said that the
minister had been treating them poorly since he came onboard as the head of the
“three-in-one ministry”.
The protesters carried
placards, which had inscriptions such as “We are not slaves in this ministry,”
“Fashola, treat workers with respect” and “No training, no welfare, no salary.
Punch
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