It was drama in Edo state as government businesses came to a halt in various ministries and parastatals across the state as workers and officials of the state chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) led members of the civil society groups as well as non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to chase workers out of their offices to join in the nationwide protest against the N145 hike in the pump price of petrol.
The exercise which began at about 9am from the popular Kings Square on Ring Road was led by the state chairman of the NLC, Comrade Emmanuel Ademokun and leaders of other affiliate bodies as they moved from one office to another to monitor the compliance and progress of the strike action.
It was gathered that offices at the state secretariat on Sapele road, ministry of Information, ministry of Justice and various local government council headquarters were locked. However, some of the workers who dared to open their offices, were chased out of the premises.
The protesting workers swooped on officials of the state ICT who were conducting staff verification and other workers within the secretariat complex and disrupted activities in the area, forcing them to close their offices for the day.
This forced workers to leave their offices and return home causing heavy traffic gridlock in some of the roads.
As the protest progressed, some of the workers were seen leaving their offices for home even as there was traffic gridlock for hours along the busy Sapele road in Benin, the state capital.