The Nigeria Labour Congress has asked the Federal Government to order the immediate release of all the welfare materials provided to cushion the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on Nigerians.
The union said the directive should apply to state governments, which it accused of hoarding the items, adding that government officials “cannot afford to create a scenario that precipitates mass unrests within this delicate and fragile milieu in global history.”
The NLC President, Ayuba Wabba,said this in a statement titled: ‘NLC demands the immediate release of all COVID-19 palliatives and relief welfare materials and provisions stored in warehouses across Nigeria’, which was made available on Monday.
This against the backdrop of ongoing invasion of warehouses, where palliatives are being kept.
The statement read in part,
“The Nigeria Labour Congress has followed with keen concern the unfolding incidents across the country of mass storming and looting of relief welfare materials and provisions stored away in different warehouses.
“These palliative provisions are believed to have been procured by government to relieve citizens of the impact of the COVID-19 lockdown and the associated hardship.
“It is obvious that the palliative provisions that were procured by the government for immediate distribution to the mass of our people at their critical time of need and to assuage the hardship occasioned by the lockdown were hoarded and held back by some government officials.”