Nigeria unions suspend strike after pay raise pledge

Nigeria’s two largest unions have agreed to suspend their three-day strike after one day’s stoppage.

Union leaders said the government had assured them the monthly national minimum wage would go up to N18,000 or $120.

The current national minimum wage of N7,500 or $50 has not been reviewed in over a decade.

But union leaders said they would meet again in a month’s time to review progress on the issue.

The strike has disrupted flights and activities in schools, offices and hospitals in major towns and cities across Africa’s most populous nation.

The BBC’s Caroline Duffield in Lagos says union leaders met as the nationwide strike brought government offices to a halt on Wednesday.

There has been panic buying and long queues at petrol stations amid fears of fuel shortages.