Police ‘abducts’ NLC president, prepare for nationwide protest if he’s not released – Organised Labour

Policemen on Wednesday arrested the National President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Joe Ajaero in Owerri, the Imo State capital.

The Head of Information, NLC, Benson Upah, who spoke to The PUNCH, noted that Ajaero was picked up at the state secretariat of the congress.

“President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Joe Ajaero, was picked up a few minutes ago from NLC state council secretariat by heavily armed policemen in Owerri and taken to an unknown destination,” Upah informed PUNCH via a text message.

Recall that the NLC had vowed to mobilise its members for a total strike in Imo state starting Today, November 1, 2023.

Ajaero, during a press briefing on Sunday, had accused the Imo State Government of “violating the rights of the Nigerian workers in the state.”

Accusing the state governor Hope Uzodimma of neglecting workers’ welfare, Ajaero lamented that many of them have died because of the alleged lack of payment of their salaries.

He outlined some of the infractions against workers by Uzodimma, including the alleged refusal to implement previous agreements especially the accord reached on January 9, 2021, outstanding salary arrears of about 20 months, unjust declaration of workers as ghost workers, declaration of pensioners as ghost workers and unsettled gratuity arrears, among others.

According to him, approximately 10,000 pensioners have been wrongly labelled as ghost pensioners resulting in over 22 months of unpaid pensions while about 11,000 workers have been branded by the Imo State Government as ghost workers.

The NLC president also lamented the non-compliance with the national minimum wage by the state government, adding that Uzodinma has resisted the use of social dialogue and collective bargaining to resolve the issues.

In another statement later, the NLCand the Trade Union Congress accused Uzodimma, of conspiring with the state’s Commissioner of Police, Muhammed Barde, to ‘abduct’ Ajaeroon Wednesday.

In a statement by the joint Unions’ Secretaries, Emmanuel Ugboaja (NLC) and Nuhu Toro (TUC) the organised labour frowned at the detention of Ajaero stressing the need for President Bola Tinubu’s intervention.

The statement partly read, “Just as Nigerian workers gathered earlier this morning led by the leadership of the two Labour centres to demonstrate our outrage over the serial and habitual abuse and violation of the rights of workers in the state, the government unleashed blood-curdling mayhem on the workers.

“Earlier in the morning, policemen had tried to disperse workers who were gathering at the state NLC secretariat without success. This was followed in the usual manner by ‘thugs’ who were stationed very close to the Secretariat in several Hilux and Toyota trucks.

“These ‘thugs’ were later to unleash mayhem on the few workers who had already gathered, smashing car windscreens, delivering matchete cuts on some, stabbing many, and inflicting all manners of injuries on the workers. GSM handsets were snatched, Laptops taken away, and money were forcefully taken away by the hoodlums.

“As if that damage was not enough, the President of the NLC, Comrade Joe Ajaero, arrived at the venue accompanied by a few individual workers to inspect the carnage and to provide the necessary leadership for the trade union action to continue, only to be met by policemen of the Imo State Police Command who came in their numbers and in several trucks.”

The unions also alleged that the police came with thugs led by the Special Assistant to the Governor on Special Duties, Chinasa Nwaneri, who descended on Ajaero after overpowering the few workers who were left.

The statement added, “They (Police) eventually bundled the president into their waiting van and whisked him away to an unknown destination, where he is still being held incommunicado.

“This latest action of the state government and the police further demonstrates our earlier cries to Nigerians on the level of violence and impunity going on in Imo State. If the president of congress can be abducted in broad daylight and taken to an unknown destination by the Police and the State Governor, imagine what they have been doing to workers and trade union leaders in the state!

“All we have been asking the governor is to honour agreements signed between us and to respect the rights of workers in the state. Workers deserve their wages and if you are in the habit of owing workers, you make their lives unstable and strip them of their humanity. These are some of the things we have asked Hope to do but to which he has refused to heed; instead, he believes in the use of intimidation and violence against the workers and the people.”

The Labour further called on Tinubu to ensure the release of the NUT President with immediate effect while urging the workers across the country to be on alert for nationwide protest if Ajaero is not released before the end of Wednesday.