BREAKING: DSS Summons Nigerian Workers Forum Over Protests On Non-Payment Of Wage Awards By Tinubu Government

The Department of State Services (DSS) has summoned the leadership of the Federal Workers Forum (FWF) following a series of coordinated protests demanding the payment of wage awards and improved welfare for federal employees.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, Comrade Andrew Emelieze, the National Coordinator of the Federal Workers Forum and former Chairman of the Trade Union Congress (TUC) in Oyo State, confirmed the invitation by the secret police over their role in organising the recent #FederalWorkersProtest, including campaigns such as #OccupyFederalSecretariat and #ShutDownAllFederalSecretariat.

In the notice obtained by SaharaReporters, Emelieze emphasised that the group would honour the DSS invitation without fear or hesitation.

The statement read, "We are not in anyway intimidated , we have no regrets and if we have to do it again, we will not hesitate. We have no apologies and we remain committed to freeing our people from servitude. We shall proceed to honour the invitation with profound conviction that we have a just course.

"We are informing all members of the Federal Workers Forum, the  public and the mass media to take note in case things come up the other way.

"Once more, we have no regrets and we are not in anyway moved. We shall honour the invitation and we will never be intimidated, all that we have said and done is in the open and it is in the public interest, justice  and humanity. Our voices must be heard, we shall keep on keeping on and never surrender. 

"We urge our members to remain resolute and continue with the protest until the workers are free from exploitation," Emelieze added.

SaharaReporters had last week reported that the federal workers under the platform of the Federal Workers Forum (FWF) commenced an indefinite nationwide strike, starting from Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, over the non-payment of their five months’ outstanding wage awards by President Bola Tinubu-led Nigerian Government.

The strike action officially began last Tuesday at the federal secretariat in Ibadan, where hundreds of aggrieved workers reportedly gathered to protest what they described as continued neglect and insensitivity by the government toward their plight.

Addressing journalists during the protest, the National Coordinator of the FWF, Comrade Andrew Emelieze, and the Secretary General, Comrade Itoro Obong, had stated that the workers had earlier issued a 21-day ultimatum to the Nigerian government, which expired without any response.

“As earlier agreed, we the federal workers in Nigeria commence an indefinite protest nationwide today, 22nd April, 2025, to press home our demands for justice for federal government workers in Nigeria,” they had declared.