Protesters fault Abuja civil servants’ lockout

Protesters on Friday condemned what they described as harassment of the Minister of Women’s Affairs, Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim.

The protesters, who marched from the National Assembly to the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation in Abuja, said “no civil servant has the right to challenge a minister.”

Their demonstration followed an incident on September 10, when staff of the Federal Ministry of Women’s Affairs locked out Sulaiman-Ibrahim in protest over prolonged neglect and poor welfare conditions.

The workers, in their hundreds, blocked the gates of the ministry, chanted solidarity songs, and called for her removal.

Speaking during Friday’s protest, the Director of Public Enlightenment at the Centre for Accountability and Public Engagement, Emmanuel Lawal, described the workers’ action as an affront to constituted authority.

He said, “We are not unaware of sinister plots both from her Nasarawa home state and even at the centre where she currently serves as a Minister of the Federal Republic.”