The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) says its National President, Joe Ajaero, did not shun the invitation of the Department of State Services (DSS).
According to a Wednesday statement, Benson Upah, NLC’s spokesperson, posited that Ajaero is a law-abiding citizen.
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He noted that it is not in his character to disregard invitations from law enforcement agencies.
On Monday, Ajaero was arrested at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport in Abuja while he was about to board a flight to the United Kingdom (UK).
Amid the reactions trailing the arrest, the presidency said Ajaero is not above the law in Nigeria, adding that the NLC president failed to honour the summons of the law enforcement agencies.
Upah who urged members of the public to “disregard” the report that Ajaero failed to honour the invitation of the secret service added that days before the arrest, the NLC president interacted with the DSS director-general on a courtesy visit.
“We would like to set the records straight as follows: In the days preceding his arrest, the congress president had a discussion with the DG DSS on a courtesy visit.
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“A director in the agency later called the general secretary of the congress on the need to fix a date for the courtesy visit.
“The general secretary, however, explained to him that he would not be available until Friday (September 13). The said director assured him they would give congress leadership a notice of not less than 48 hours for the visit.
“The DG DSS last spoke with Comrade Ajaero on Saturday night, during which Ajaero told him he would be travelling the next day, Sunday, adding that the courtesy visit would be paid after his return on Friday, September 13.
“The congress president, however, missed his flight on Sunday and had it rescheduled to Monday, September 9th. It was on that Monday morning he was picked up by the operatives of the DSS in a watch list operation on behalf of a sister agency.
“We want to reaffirm that Joe Ajaero is a law-abiding citizen heading the biggest pan-Nigerian organisation with an illustrious history of patriotism and will certainly not snub the DSS.
“He is a trade unionist of international repute who serves on the executive boards of world federations of trade unions. His constituency goes beyond Nigeria.
“It is not in his character to disregard invitations and precedents (his honouring the police invitation) attest to this,” the statement read.
