NIGERIAN trade unions have suspended a general strike that had brought their country to a halt.

They took the decision after the government promised to increase the minimum wage to at least 60,000 naira (£32) a month.

That is double the current minimum but is short of the £260 that the unions were calling for.

Union negotiators and the government said that they would meet for the next seven days to hammer out a permanent deal.

But Shittu Lawal, a civil servant in the northern city of Kano, told the BBC that he was disappointed by the offer.

He said he wanted around 100,000 naira (£53) a month. Even that “won’t be enough as prices in the market have gone up,” Mr Lawal added, “but it will be better than what we have now.”

This week’s strike plunged the country into darkness as union members closed electricity substations.

Hundreds of flights were cancelled at Lagos airport, Nigeria’s busiest, and in the capital Abuja.

Hospitals, schools and offices across the country were also closed.

The unions warned that they would not hesitate to reinstate the general strike in seven days if negotiations fail to make progress.