A Nigerian court on Thursday declared a planned general strike over fuel prices illegal, dramatically raising tensions less than a week before the nation-wide protest is due to begin. "I hereby restrain labour from embarking on strike on November 16 or any other day thereafter until determination of the motion before me," judge Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad told the Abuja appeals court in an interim ruling favourable to the government.
Labour leaders, who had gone to court in a bid to have a previous injunction banning their protest against the effects of President Olusegun Obasanjo's economic reform programme overturned, immediately dismissed the ruling.
"We are not bothered by the court order. They cannot stop us. No court order can stop us," declared Denja Yacqub, national mobilisation officer of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), which has led calls for next week's action.
"The court restrained the NLC and not the coalition of civil societies and labour unions. The court order may affect the NLC but has no effect on the coalition. So the strike will go on as scheduled on November 16," he said.
The judge granted a government request for an interim injunction banning the strike while he considers a labour request for a previous ban to be lifted. The next hearing was set for November 17, one day after the action is due to begin.
On September 23 the price of petrol and diesel jumped by around a quarter to 55 naira (40 cents) per litre, the latest in a series of hikes since October last year when Obasanjo decided to drop state fuel subsidies and a price cap.
Last month the NLC and its allies paralysed markets, banks, public transport, schools and offices in Nigeria's major cities for four days during what they called a "warning strike" over the deregulation policy.
The unions and a coalition of civil rights groups have now threatened tougher action, despite moves by the government to have the strike declared illegal. Some activists have promised to hold large-scale street protests.
Nigeria is Africa's biggest producer of crude oil, with exports of more than 2.5 million barrels per day, and world markets are watching nervously to see if the unions can make good a threat to disrupt supplies.
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