Deputy Governor of Enugu State, Ifeanyi Ossai, addressed the protesters.
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), the Trade Union Congress and other affiliate unions, Enugu State chapter, on Wednesday, joined the nationwide protest of the labour unions against the removal of the oil subsidy and attendant economic hardship in Nigeria.
The protest began at the state's office of the NLC, near New Market, Enugu North Local Government Area of the state.
Armed security operatives comprising the police and personnel of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps were seen guarding the protest, which caused gridlock in some major roads.
The protesters, led by the state Chairperson of the NLC, Fabian Nwigbo, and his TUC counterpart, Ben Asogwa, marched to the Government House, Enugu, where they were received by the Deputy Governor of the state, Ifeanyi Ossai and other officials of the government.
Mr Nwigbo told the deputy governor they were at the Government House to appeal to the governor, Peter Mbah, to convey their dissatisfaction with the current economic hardship and subsidy removal to President Bola Tinubu.
"President Tinubu ambushed Nigerians the very day he was sworn in. The welcome song he gave to Nigerians was the removal of subsidy, and since then, this country has not known peace," he said.
The NLC chairperson also lamented that workers' salaries had not been increased despite the increasing cost of goods and services caused by the removal of the subsidy.
"We are saying that the citizens of this country are suffering. Honestly, many people are dying in their numbers today. The insecurity we are discussing is more or less hunger and hardship.
"The N30,000 minimum wage cannot fill the fuel tank of Keke-Napep, not to talk of any car," Mr Nwigbo stated, adding that the state government should consider the welfare of workers in the state.
On his part, the TUC Chairperson, Mr Asogwa, said the major grouse of the labour unions in Nigeria was the removal of subsidy by the Nigerian government without addressing the concerns raised by the labour unions.
"When the federal government talked to us about subsidy removal, we said no. When they pressed, we said if they wanted to remove fuel subsidy, first repair refineries so that we would not depend on exchange rates.
"We also said if they must remove the subsidy, we will renegotiate the minimum wage they were going to pay us to compensate for the increase in fuel price. The government never did anything but only went to announce the removal on 29 May," he said.
He also appealed to the Enugu State Government to be among the first states to commence payment of new minimum wage, which the labour unions are agitating for.
Responding, the Deputy Governor, Mr Ossai, a lawyer, commended the labour unions for their peaceful conduct, adding that their protest and aspirations were defendable and in line with realities.
The deputy governor explained that he came out to receive the labour unions because Mr Mbah was "unavoidably absent."
He said the Enugu State Government was aware of the economic hardship, explaining that the state government had recently inaugurated a committee that would supervise the distribution of palliatives to residents of the state to cushion the effect of the hardship.
"I want to pledge that the message that you have given us to deliver to the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria that you can take it for granted that the message will get to Abuja," Mr Ossai said.
Mr Nwigbo, the NLC chairperson, told reporters after the protest that the labour unions were happy that the state government had accepted to deliver their message to Mr Tinubu.
He said they have confidence that the state government will address the challenges of workers in the state.
"I am aware that in no distant time from now, the pensioners in Enugu State, who have not fared well, will receive two months' pension arrears. And on that ground, I think the government is 'talk and do," Mr Nwigbo said.
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Mild drama
Meanwhile, there was a mild drama when members of the labour unions were stopped at the entrance of the Government House by some government officials and security agencies who informed the protesters that the governor would come out to address them.
The labour unions, however, protested when the Secretary to State Government, Chidiebere Onyia, stepped out alongside other officials apparently to address them.
They insisted that they would only accept the governor to address them. Mr Onyia, a professor, consequently returned to the secretariat.
The labour unions were already planning to leave in anger when the deputy governor stepped out and led the protesters into the premises of the Government House, where he addressed them.
