The Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU) has condemned the brutalisation, arbitrary arrest and detention of the President of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero.

The General Secretary of NASU, Peters Adeyemi, who bemoaned the role played by the governor of Imo State, Hope Uzodinma, and the immediate past Imo State Commissioner of Police in the saga, said the barbaric action was a violation of trade union rights as well as human right of Ajaero.

He said: “The despicable action of the Governor and the Commissioner of Police in this regard is a violation of the human and trade union rights of Ajaero. The rights that Ajaero was exercising in Owerri as the leader of the working people of Nigeria, before the brutal show of power that exists only in animal farms, is guaranteed by the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 Constitution (as amended) and International Labour Organisation (ILO) Conventions. Nigeria as a member state of ILO has ratified ILO Conventions on Freedom of Association and Protection of Rights to Organise, 1948 (No.87) and the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining, 1949 (No.98).”

Adeyemi, who is also the Deputy President of Public Service International (Global), alleged that it is indeed worrisome that after the State Governor, Hope Uzodinma had morally brutalised Imo state workers through unfair labour practices and unpaid salaries and pension, he then resorted to physical brutalisation of Ajaero, the leader of the workers, who were on a solidarity visit to the workers in Imo State, adding, “as usual, he found a ready ally in the Imo State Commissioner of Police.”

The NASU scribe, stated: “These acts of the two top State and Federal Government functionaries in Imo State, which are associated only with authoritarian and fascist Governments, were common in Nigeria only during military regimes. The Labour Movement and indeed Nigerians had erroneously believed that these acts had gone with military incursion in the governance of the country. What the Labour Movement failed to understand was that some ‘emperors’ in State government houses are yet to be fully debriefed of military mentality.”

NASU urged President Bola Tinubu to, as a matter of urgency, direct the investigation of the actions of the Imo State Governor and the immediate past Imo State Commissioner of Police, their agents and officials and prosecute all those found culpable.

“Failure to do so, the President will be unintentional, sending a loud message to the nation, that they should be expecting a clampdown on trade union leaders and activists, whenever there is a dispute between the government and labour. NASU says no to authoritarianism and fascism in public administration and governance in Nigeria. It cannot be business as usual anymore.”

In the same vein, the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) in a letter to the Director-General of the ILO, Gilbert Houngbo, with reference number ‘HTUR/ZM’ dated 3 November 2023, requested urgent intervention in Nigeria regarding the arbitrary arrest and detention of Joe Ajaero, president of the NLC and violence against workers.

In the letter jointly signed by the ITUC President, Akiko Gono and General Secretary, Luc Triangle, the ITUC called on the ILO DG to intervene in a series of attacks on workers protesting the continuing non-implementation of a freely concluded minimum wage agreement.

The letter read in part: “Director-General, this event follows one that occurred on September 6, 2023, in which the Imo State’s police force harassed, intimidated, and locked up trade union leaders who were carrying out their lawful duties, monitoring and coordinating a nationwide strike from within the state. Then again, on March 7, 2023, the same government’s police force disrupted an NLC conference organised to elect new leadership and left several delegates injured and trade union property damaged. The state’s government then appropriated the NLC conference and installed its trade union leadership in its name.”

ITUC stated that it is deeply concerned about a developing culture of impunity regarding anti-trade union attacks in Nigeria.

It called on the ILO as an international labour organisation to use its good offices to intervene by calling upon the government of Nigeria to respect the principles of Conventions 87 and 98 and cease the acts of anti-union attacks and discrimination, insisting that the Nigerian government must be compelled to investigate the unfortunate incidents and bring the perpetrators to justice.