Nigeria oil union threatens shutdown amid strike

January 12, 2012 at 10:36a.m.

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — A union representing 20,000 oil and gas workers in Nigeria threatened today it would shut down all production starting Sunday to take part in the crippling nationwide strike over spiraling fuel prices. The strike began Monday after the Nigerian government reversed a two-decade-long popular subsidy program that had kept gas prices low for Nigerian consumers. Anger over the government’s decision has led to demonstrations across Africa’s most populous nation, and related violence has left at least 10 people dead.