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Strikers shot dead in Lagos fuel riot
By Tim Butcher
(Filed: 08/07/2003)

Several protesters were reported to have been killed in Nigeria's commercial capital, Lagos, yesterday when a general strike erupted in violence.

 
Nigerian strikers block a road during riots over petrol prices

Rioting blocked several main roads as strikers clashed with police armed with shotguns and machetes. A leading union official said that at least 10 protesters had been shot dead, a claim the police denied.

Armed thugs mingled with strikers, attacking vehicles carrying would-be strike breakers in a series of battles in the Mile 2 area of the city.

There were unconfirmed reports that a notorious ethnic Yoruba group known as OPC, which was blamed for ethnic fighting that left hundreds dead in Lagos three years ago, was supporting the strikers.

Unrest spread to the provinces. Disturbances were reported in the south-eastern city of Uyo, where homes and businesses were attacked.

With President George W Bush due to finish his four-day African tour in oil-rich Nigeria on Friday, President Olusegun Obasanjo's government was under growing pressure to solve the dispute over a proposed rise in the price of petrol.

The strike began eight days ago. It was called by the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trades Union Congress after the government announced a 50 per cent rise in the fuel price.

Although Nigeria is one of Africa's largest oil producers, corruption and mismanagement mean that domestic petrol supplies are intermittent and expensive.

President Obasanjo's government offered at the weekend to reduce the rise to 35 per cent.

This was enough to persuade the largely white-collar TUC to tell its members to go back to work, but the blue-collar Labour Congress called for street protests.

7 July 2003: Terrorism transforms US outlook on Africa
1 May 2003: Nigeria sends navy to rigs where Britons are hostages
22 April 2003: Nigeria's ruling party accused of vote-rigging

External links 
 
10 Shot Dead in Lagos Riots [7 Jul '03] - AllAfrica.com
 
Nigeria: unions reject government offer, strike continues [7 Jul '03] - AllAfrica.com
 
Lagos Vanguard