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0016-Nigeria-Enugu-Keke-Auto-Rickshaw-Transport-Policemen-Weapons-Monument-Strike-Coal-Miners-Death-2019.JPG
Nigeria. Enugu State. Enugu. Town center. A tricycle carrying two Igbo policemen with their weapons ride on the road. Both police officers have Kalashnikov rifles which are automatic rifles, widely known as Kalashnikovs, AK47s, or as a "Kalash ». The yellow auto rickshaw is used by "Keke" drivers for transporting people around town. The tricycle better known in Nigeria as the Keke NAPEP is gaining the dominance on Nigerian roads sweeping every street of cities and villages. The auto rickshaw is a common form of urban transport, both as a vehicle for hire and for private use. The tricycle passes on a roundabout near a monument dedicated to the memory of Enugu coal miners. On the 18th November 1949, 21 striking miners and a bystander were shot dead at a British government-owned coal mine at Enugu, Nigeria; 51 were injured. The miners were fighting for back-pay owed to them for a period of casualisation known as ‘rostering’, later declared illegal, and had been sacked following a work to rule. They occupied the mine to prevent a repeat of the lock-out they had suffered during the 1945 general strike. Nigerian Coal had been of strategic importance during the war, and continued to be vital in the re-building of infrastructure by the post-war Labour government, who sought to maximise output in the Sterling zone to pay off its debt to the U.S.A. Enugu is the capital of Enugu State, located in southeastern Nigeria. 30.06.19 © 2019 Didier Ruef