Strikes stall as Nigeria deploys troops

UNIONS yesterday suspended their nationwide strike in Nigeria, hours after president Goodluck Jonathan partially reinstated subsidies to keep petrol prices low and deployed soldiers in the streets to halt widening demonstrations.

Union leaders described their decision as a victory for labour, allowing its leaders to guide the country’s policy on fuel subsidies in the future while having petrol prices drop to about 47c a litre.

However, many protesters joined the demonstrations with hopes of seeing petrol return to its previous price of 35c per litre, while also speaking out against a culture of corruption.