Armed policemen have been posted to strategic locations in Abeokuta, the Ogun state capital, as workers embarked on a two day nationwide protest rally to force federal government to end the prolonged public lecturers strike.

The  2-day protest rally is organized by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) in solidarity with the striking public universities lecturers.

The 2-day protest may escalate to a three day warning strike as from Thursday, if federal government fails to initiate concrete moves to end the more than five month old strike.

Already, members of the NLC and its affiliate bodies in banks, oil and gas, aviation electricity and others in the public sector had mobilized for the rally.

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In Ogun state, workers from across the state converged at the state NLC secretariat at Leme, Abeokuta, from where the protest rally took off.

Police had been patrolling major streets in Abeokuta where the protests march will take place, since the early hours of Tuesday.

Last Thursday, the federal government had declared the protests illegal.

But police in Ogun state say they will not stop the protests rally in Abeokuta but will be on ground to prevent it from being hijacked by hoodlums and to protect the protesters and members of the public.

The lecturers strike started on February 14, and were joined later by non-academic staff in March, leaving all federal universities and most of the state universities shut down and students stranded in their various homes.

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