Biggest Nigerian Labor Group Calls Off Strike, Plans Talks With Army

This nation’s largest labor organization on Thursday suspended a 2-day-old national strike aimed at toppling the military government and said it would enter talks with army leaders.

The Nigeria Labor Congress, a 41-union umbrella group, directed its 5 million members to return to their jobs but said it would consider resuming the strike Saturday if the talks fail.

The congress branch in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial center, said it would continue the strike.

Oil workers also vowed to continue their month-old strike, which has deprived oil-rich Nigeria of revenue and nearly paralyzed the country. They began the strike July 4 to protest the imprisonment of Moshood K. O. Abiola, who appeared to be winning the June 12, 1993, presidential election by a landslide before the military government annulled it.

Abiola was arrested after declaring himself president on the first anniversary of the election. He is on trial for treason.

Shopkeepers in Lagos kept their stores closed for a second day Thursday, fearing another rampage by youths who used machetes to enforce the nationwide strike.

The city’s streets were nearly empty. Soldiers and police protected a few groups of pedestrians from possible attack.

Labor Congress President Paschal Bafyau said the organization called off its strike after the government requested talks “under a free and fair atmosphere.”

Congress leaders later left for Abuja, the capital.

Oil workers say their strike has cut crude oil production by 35%. The West African country depends on oil for 80% of its revenues. Fuel shortages have shut down public transportation and many industries.

Compliance with the labor congress strike was heavy in Lagos and other southern areas where anti-government sentiment is strong. But the walkout largely failed in the north.

The two major oil unions, in a joint statement released Wednesday, said their strike would continue until the military steps down and hands over power to Abiola.

“No other action will be sufficient,” they said.

On Wednesday, police reportedly shot and killed at least two people while breaking up peaceful anti-government marches in Lagos.

Wole Soyinka, the 1986 Nobel laureate in literature, urged those protesting Abiola’s detention to remain peaceful.

“Some of the things that are happening are a stain on democracy. Those organizing this violence are a disgrace to democracy,” Soyinka said Wednesday night.

In Washington, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who went to Nigeria last week at the behest of President Clinton, said the country was headed toward a civil war in which “the bloodshed could be endless.”

Because Nigeria controls a tenth of OPEC oil production, the United States has a clear interest in preventing civil war there, Jackson said after a White House meeting with National Security Council members.