LAGOS, April 18 (Xinhua) -- Health workers in Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation, have commenced nationwide strike, an official said Wednesday.

Obisesan Oluwatuyi, General Secretary of the Nigerian Union of Allied Health Professionals (NAHP), told reporters in Abuja, the country's capital, that they would not call off the strike until government meets their demands.

"The soldiers have been let loose, no retreat, no surrender until government does the needful," the scribe added.

Members of the Joint Health Sector Union (JOHESU) had earlier threatened to embark on a nationwide indefinite strike beginning on Tuesday midnight due to alleged Federal Government's failure to meet their demands.

Josiah Biobelemoye, President of the union, who issued the strike notice on Monday, attributed the industrial action to what he described as the insensitivity and lackadaisical attitude of drivers of the health sector.

He directed all JOHESU members in federal health institutions across the country to commence the strike at midnight of April 17.

Biobelemoye listed their demands to include upward adjustment of CONHESS Salary Scale, arrears of skipping of CONHESS 10 and employment of additional health professionals.

Other demands are implementation of court judgments and upward review of retirement age from 60 to 65 years.

Biobelemoye recalled that the union suspended its last nationwide strike on Sept. 30, 2017, after signing a Memorandum of Terms of Settlement (MOTS), with the federal government.