Joe Ajaero, President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), was on Monday “seized and whisked away” by the Nigerian government.
The Union’s President was reportedly arrested while on his way to the United Kingdom on the invitation of the Trade Union Congress (TUC) of Britain.
According to sources, operatives of the Department of the State Services arrested the Comrade.
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Though details of the arrest and the reasons are still sketchy, sources say he has been handed over to the National Intelligence Agency, NIA.
Meanwhile, NLC’s Head of Information and Public Affairs, Benson Upah in a statement said Ajaero was set to address the global gathering of workers on behalf of Nigerian workers at the Congress of the TUC, a platform where critical discussions on workers’ rights, social justice, and economic fairness are discussed.
The statement read: “We are yet to ascertain his whereabouts or his state of health as all efforts we have made to get in touch with him have proved abortive.
“We wish to categorically state that Comrade Ajaero has been detained without any legal warrant or formal instrument. Joe Ajaero is not a fugitive. His detention is therefore a brazen act of lawlessness and intimidation as he has not been declared wanted by any law enforcement body.
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“His detention is a brazen act of intimidation and completely unjustified under the laws of our nation. The mere contemplation of not just stopping a lawful citizen from travelling but also sequestering his freedom is an affront to our democratic and natural rights as a people and as workers.”
According to the Union, the lawlessness is being perpetuated by the Nigerian government and its agencies “to silence every voice of dissent and opposition in the country as the economic policies of the government continues to afflict the people with monumental suffering and hardship.”
“Such actions are not only undemocratic but immoral as well as a direct affront to the fundamental rights of citizens and organizations to lawfully express their views and carry out their activities.
“In light of this troubling development, the Congress puts all its affiliates, State Councils, Civil society allies and all patriotic Nigerians on the highest state of alert. The Congress will not stand idly by while the rights of its leaders and members are trampled upon. Accordingly, we demand for the immediate and unconditional release of comrade Joe Ajaero,” it added.
NLC further called the international community, human rights organizations, and all advocates of democracy to take note of the “rising wave of authoritarianism in Nigeria.”
Recall that the Nigeria Police Force had invited and interrogated Ajaero over allegations of terrorism financing, cybercrime, subversion, criminal conspiracy, and treasonable felony.
The invitation came in the wake of a night raid by the police on the NLC national secretariat in Abuja.
The police are alleging a link between the labour leader and a Briton, Andrew Wynne, who has been accused of financing the recent #EndBadGovernance protest in the country to allegedly overthrow the government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
