Caleb Onwe, Abuja
An environmental health crisis may be brewing in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) as angry striking environmental workers on Thursday threatened to shut all public cemeteries in Abuja.
This came after the Gudu Cemetery was locked on Wednesday, but the workers were prevailed on to open it after pressure from both the administration and the Presidency was mounted on them.
Public cemeteries in the nation’s capital are properly protected with perimeter fence and gates, and are managed by a department in the Abuja Environmental Protection Board.
The workers have also threatened to shutdown the city’s central sewer treatment plant at Wupa District.
The angry striking workers had two days ago demonstrated and subsequently embarked on an indefinite strike action over the failure of the FCT Administration to implement a new salary structure for them.
Comrade Muktar Bala, the Chairman of Amalgamated Union of Public Corporation, Civil Service Technical and Recreational Services Employees (AUPCTRE) in AEPB, said the unions have agreed to reopen the cemeteries, but will shut them again, including all other operational systems of the board, if their demands are not met.
