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FCT Workers Storm Wike’s Office, Demand ₦70,000 Wage, Health Centre Reopening

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3 weeks ago

Apr 25, 2025.

FCT Workers Storm Wike’s Office, Demand ₦70,000 Wage, Health Centre Reopening.
Nurses, teachers accuse Area Councils of gross neglect, abandonment.
Wike absent as protesters reject officials, demand urgent government action.

Hundreds of angry nurses, primary school teachers, and Area Council workers in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) stormed the office of the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, on Thursday to demand the immediate implementation of the ₦70,000 minimum wage and the reopening of more than 270 Primary Healthcare Centres (PHCs) that have remained shut for over a month.

The protesters, drawn from the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), and the FCT branch of the National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives (NANNM), marched to the FCTA Secretariat in Area 11, Abuja, accusing the government of neglecting their welfare and deepening a public health and education crisis.

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EKO HOT BLOG reports that Chairman of NANNM-FCT, James Medan, described the situation as critical, warning that Nigeria’s already strained health system was nearing total collapse. He linked the spike in maternal and child mortality to the ongoing closure of PHCs in the six Area Councils of the FCT.

“We have fewer than 130 nurses and midwives attending to patients across the Area Councils. Women and children are dying daily because over 270 healthcare centres remain shut,” Medan said.

He accused the Area Council Chairmen of gross inaction despite the release of over ₦4.1 billion by the FCT Minister to address the crisis. According to him, health workers are also owed arrears, hazard, and uniform allowances.

He further warned that the prolonged closure of the PHCs was putting the planned polio vaccination campaign in jeopardy, increasing fears of an outbreak.

On the education front, FCT NUT Chairman, Abdullahi Shafa, expressed deep concern over the impact of the ongoing strike by primary school teachers. He said that the continuous delay in implementing the new wage was pushing the public education system toward total collapse in the Area Councils.

“We have been on strike for months. If nothing is done, the damage to education in the FCT will be irreversible,” Shafa stated.

The protest also attracted members of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), the Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria (MHWUN), and other labour unions. The demonstrators blocked the entrance of the Secretariat, chanting slogans and demanding to see Minister Wike.

Efforts by Mandate Secretary Lawrence Garki to calm the angry crowd were unsuccessful, as chants of “thief, thief!” drowned out his voice. The protesters insisted he was not the official they wanted to address them.

“We will not leave until Wike comes out. Our people are suffering while the government turns a blind eye,” one protester yelled.

FCT Workers Storm Wike’s Office

The protesters also called for the immediate resignation of all six Area Council Chairmen, accusing them of failing frontline workers and ignoring the breakdown of essential services.

Eventually, the Mandate Secretary of the FCT Education Secretariat, Hayyo Danlami, received the protesters’ letter of demands on behalf of Minister Wike and assured the crowd that their grievances would receive swift attention.