NIGERIAN workers began a general strike on Thursday over petrol price increases after last-ditch talks between labour chiefs and the government ended in deadlock. Witnesses said protesters barricaded roads into the main business districts in the commercial capital Lagos. Shops and banks were also closed. “The streets are deserted because protesters turned back the few commercial transport operators on the roads,” one witness said. The Nigerian Labour Congress, the labour unions’ umbrella body, said on Wednesday the strike will go on until the government rescinds its decision to raise petroleum product prices by 50%.