There was a little confusion over the nationwide strike declared by the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress in Kwara State on Tuesday, as workers reported for work early in the morning.

Our correspondent observed that civil servants at the State Government Secretariat and the Judiciary reported for work while the courts also held their sittings in Ilorin, the state capital.

It was gathered that most of the workers in the state civil service, parastatals and agencies were at their duty posts on Tuesday.

Some of these offices included the Kwara State Internal Revenue Service, and SUBEB, among others.

However, it was gathered that the staff of federal government ministry and establishments, banks and power distribution companies did not come to work as their offices were under lock and key.

Commercial banks opened their offices and attended to customers before they shut their gates to commence the strike action while students who had earlier resumed classes were later sent home by their teachers.

Most commercial banks opened for business in the morning but later closed down following a directive from their union to join the strike.

Most of the bank customers were however disappointed as the ATMs in the banks were not dispensing cash.

It was observed that some customers were staying at the ATM points but they left when they discovered that the ATM was not dispensing money.

Electricity consumers also shared the pains of the strike as the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company locked the gates of its offices in Challenge and Baboko Business Centres.

The banner of the National Union of Electricity Employees was conspicuously displayed at the gates of the business centres while security men manning the gates informed customers that the workers were on strike.

However, commercial transport operators in the state did not join the strike.

Chairman of the NLC in the state, Comrade Saheed Olayinka, who said that the strike commenced in the state at midnight said that though some workers reported in their offices early in the day, noted that those who reported for work had gone to their various homes.

He added that a committee had been put in place by the NLC to monitor the strike, adding that members of the committee had been going around the offices to ensure that workers complied with the directive on the strike.

Olayinka said that the strike would be more effective tomorrow adding that the monitoring committee of the congress would start picketing the offices of the workers that did not comply with the NLC directive.

The telephone number of the TUC chairman in the state Comrade Tunde Joseph could not be reached as the number was switched off as at the time of filing this report. (The PUNCH)

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