Civil Liberties Organization (CLO), South East Zone has called on the Federal Government to urgently intervene in the 10 day old industrial action embarked upon by workers in Enugu state to press home their demand for the implementation of the N18,000 new minimum wage by the state Government.

Making the call in a statement issued in Enugu, signed by the zonal Director of the Organization, Barrister Olu omotayo, and made available to newsmen in Enugu Wednesday, the body also called on the federal government to declare a state of emergency in the state so as to prevent the people living in the state from further hardship and deprivation they are currently experiencing as a result of the strike which involves all sectors in the state, including banks, Road Transport, aviation, hospitals, educational institutions, among others.

His words: “The impact of the strike has been tremendous on the citizens of the state, as government ministries and parastatals have been shut down. More alarming is the fact that hospitals, banks and other financial institutions have also closed down. Electricity and water supply has been so erratic, or one can conveniently say the supply had been cut off”.

According to him, “all activities in the state have been grounded to a halt as the masses continue to cry out for help. There is no solution and hope in sight with the reported overseas trip made by the state Governor, Sullivan Chime, without solving this problem which has now become a humanitarian crisis that should attract the attention of the whole country and the World at large”.

Their investigations, he said, clearly show that something urgent has to be done to alleviate the sufferings of the people living in the state, as the poor masses continue to suffer the effect of the present strike declared by the organized labour. We also gathered that patients in some of the government hospitals have been removed from the hospitals by their relations. Our findings further show that if nothing is done particularly to make the banks and the hospitals resume work immediately, more deaths will be recorded and we shall be having serious humanitarian crises at hand in Enugu State”.

Maintaining that the absence of governor Chime has compound the whole matter, Omotayo reasoned that if the federal government fails to intervene in the matter, the lives of the people would be in serious danger, as lack of water and other essentials of life can easily lead to out break of epidemic in the state.

Continuing, the CLO South East zonal Director further said:  “The President as father of the nation should as a matter of urgency recall the governor of Enugu State from his overseas trip to  address this urgent issue which portends danger to the welfare of the masses of Enugu State in particular and the Country in general.”

“We also call on all Nigerians to come to the aid of the people of Enugu State, by taking all necessary steps as the circumstances of this situation demand, so as to stop the present sufferings of the good people of Enugu State. The suffering is becoming unbearable everyday for the masses. All Nigerians should rise to the occasion and not allow innocent citizens to continue to die daily due to the devastating effect of the strike on a populace that even before now is living below average standard of living expected in a democratic society like Nigeria”, he further pleaded.