The Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) has directed workers to boycott the services of telecommunications companies MTN, Airtel, and Glo over a 50% hike in tariffs.
In a statement signed by its President, Joe Ajaero, and Secretary, Emmanuel Ugboaja, the Central Working Committee (CWC) of the union announced the boycott, which is set to commence at 11:00 a.m. on Thursday.
The statement read: “The CWC demands an immediate reversal of the tariff hike, which took effect today, and insists that the companies revert to the previous tariff until the committee completes its deliberations and reaches a conclusive agreement.
“As a first step in resisting this arbitrary tariff hike, the CWC has directed that beginning Thursday, February 13, 2025, Nigerian workers and other willing citizens shall boycott the services of MTN, AirtEL, and GLO daily between 11:00 AM and 2:00 PM until the end of February 2025.”
The NLC criticized the government for failing to shield citizens from what it described as corporate exploitation.
“If the tariff hike is not reversed by February 29, 2025, the NLC will commence a nationwide telecom shutdown from March 1, 2025. The Congress urged civil society groups and all Nigerians to join the protest against exploitative economic policies,” it added.
MTN reportedly began implementing the tariff increase hours after the House of Representatives called on the federal government to suspend the hike.
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