By Festus Ahon

ASABA—THE strike embarked upon by workers of Delta State House of Assembly, yesterday, suffered a setback as the state Commissioner of Police, Mr Usman Alkali and the Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Mr Peter Onwusanya, allegedly ordered the breaking of the padlock used in locking the Assembly complex gate by the aggrieved workers.

The House of Assembly workers, under the aegis of Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria, PSAN, Delta State Chapter, had Monday, embarked on an indefinite strike over unpaid allowances and other labour related issues.

Peeved by the locking of the complex gate, which prevented the lawmakers from gaining access to the complex, the Speaker alerted the police authorities which immediately ordered the forceful opening of the complex.

Onwusanya argued that the action of PSAN amounted to labour intimidation as it failed to explore dialogue and as such erred by locking the gate of the Assembly even against elected lawmakers.

Reacting to the development, factional chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress,  NLC, in the state, David Ofoeyeno, mobilized other affiliated unions, who joined PSAN members at the entrance of the complex, where they parked their buses and blocked the two entrances to the Assembly complex.