A visit to the NCDMB headquarters showed that the entrance gate to the office premises was barricaded with vehicles and staff members were not allowed into the entrance to the office premises while the federal Secretariat was under lock and key.
The Nigerian Content Development and Management Board (NCDMB) and the Federal Secretariat in Bayelsa State among other offices have been locked down in Bayelsa State in compliance with the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) nationwide indefinite strike directive.
A visit to the NCDMB headquarters showed that the entrance gate to the office premises was barricaded with vehicles and staff members were not allowed into the entrance to the office premises while the federal Secretariat was under lock and key.
At the Federal Medical Center (FMC) in Yenagoa, it was observed that the hospital was offering skeletal services and was not completely shut down as doctors and nurses were seen attending to patients with critical health issues.
Observation revealed that majority of government secondary and primary schools as well as commercial banks in the state were also completely shut down in compliance with the strike action.
Customers were seen hanging at the entrance of Zenith Bank in Amarata and FCMB located at Obele without access to the main bank.
A FCMB staff who spoke on anonymity, said customers who arrived at the bank earlier were informed by the security that the bank was closed and not operating as a result of the strike.
"But depending on what the customer wants to do. If the customer is insisting, maybe if it is transfer or deposit, we can collect from them but they are not coming inside."
While addressing journalists at the entrance of the state Secretariat in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State Council chairman of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), Barnabas Simon, said that they were reacting based on the directive that had been stepped down to the organised labour.
"We are tired of minimum wage, we cannot go minimum anymore and we want to go to a living wage and the federal government is foot dragging. As a result of yesterday's meeting that ended in a deadlock, we have been directed to carry out this assignment to step down all activities.
"So, we are on strike, we are saying a capital no unless the federal government comes to terms with labour and do the needful in releasing the living wage without further delay.
"It is a total action, we shall not have any compromise whatsoever. We are using the medium to tell all our members, workers in Bayelsa State to stay at home. We are also using this medium to call on President Bola Tinubu to see how he would expedite action in ensuring that these issues are ammoniated so as to cushion the effect subsidy removal", he said.