Catholic Priest among 11 people Kidnapped in Nigeria’s Kaduna Archdiocese

In an interview with ACI Africa, a source in Nigeria described the media report as “true” and that “nothing is happening in Kaduna State following workers’ strike due to poor handling of issues by the State government including mass sack of thousands of workers.”

Civil servants in Kaduna State downed their tools after the Nigerian Labor Congress (NLC) called for a strike. 

According to the NLC leadership, the strike that entered its third day on May 18 was provoked by the retrenchment of at least 1,700 employees of the Primary Health Care Development Agency and 7,000 workers of local governments within Kaduna State.

All these are happening in the face of exorbitant increment in tuition fees, high cost of living and other uncalled for actions in ministries and agencies in the Nigerian state.

Following the strike, Kaduna's governor accused the national president of NLC, Ayuba Wabba, and other members of the union wanted of economic sabotage and attacks on public infrastructure.

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The May 17 attack happened days after Nigerian military personnel conducted a series of aerial strikes across locations believed to be occupied by bandits in Kaduna State.

In a May 14 statement, Kaduna State Commissioner for Internal Security and Homeland Affairs, Samuel Aruwan, confirmed the aerial attacks saying, “Many bandits were killed and their camps destroyed in the air raid.”

“These air operations, which include air interdiction, armed reconnaissance and patrols are set to be sustained over the coming days over Kaduna metropolis and other areas of interest in the state. Major highways will also be covered, including the Kaduna-Birnin Gwari, Kaduna-Abuja, Kaduna-Zaria, Kaduna-Kachia and Kaduna-Afaka roads,” Mr. Aruwan said in the statement.

Magdalene Kahiu is a Kenyan journalist with passion in Church communication. She holds a Degree in Social Communications from the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA). Currently, she works as a journalist for ACI Africa.