NLC president arrested, brutalised in Imo, lands in hospital

• Labour meets to decide line of action, NUPENG threatens   `nationwide “strike
• Police deny arrest, say Ajaero was rescued from angry mob
• Imo govt: We have no hand in Ajaero’s arrest

Imo State was the centre of political chaos yesterday, two days after calm was restored in neighbouring Rivers State.

With about 10 days to the November 11 governorship election in the state, the whereabouts of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) president, Joe Ajaero, was for several hours, shrouded in uncertainty after he was allegedly whisked away from Owerri, where he was supposed to lead workers in a protest against the state government.

Ajaero was said to be addressing Imo workers at the NLC secretariat, when heavily armed security operatives stormed the premises, picked the labour leader and whisked him to a yet-to-be-known destination. This is even as the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, was in town for the retreat for Senior Police Officers at Landmark Event Centre in Owerri.

The NLC president later reemerged with a bruised and swollen face after his release by officers of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) and was rushed to the Federal Medical Centre, Owerri, for immediate medical treatment. Sources alleged that the labour leader was picked up on the orders of the governor, Hope Uzodimma, for mobilising a workers’ strike in the state.

NLC had directed workers in the state to embark on a protest to demand implementation of their demands from the state government, including appropriate payment of the minimum wage, pensions and gratuities to retirees, among other welfare packages. That was the third of such protests since Ajaero emerged NLC president in February this year.

Sequel to the notice of protest, the Imo State government, through the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Cyprian Akaolisa, had approached the National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN) to issue an order stopping the action.

While a faction of NLC, chaired by Rev. Philip Nwansi, resolved not to join the protests, others assembled at the state NLC headquarters to listen to the next directive by Ajaero, before he was arrested.

Meanwhile, organs of the NLC and Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) are planning to meet to decide on the next line of action over the attack on workers.

Organised labour, in a joint statement signed by General Secretaries of the NLC and TUC, Emmanuel Ugboaja and Nuhu Toro, respectively, called on Nigerian workers, state councils and their branches to be on alert for immediate nationwide action, stating that they could not be at peace when the government of Imo State continues to disrespect workers and treat them with utter disdain.

Narrating what happened yesterday, they alleged that policemen tried to disperse workers who were gathering at the state NLC secretariat without success until thugs were later mobilised to the venue to unleash mayhem on the workers who had already gathered, smashing car windscreens, delivering machete cuts on some, stabbing many, and inflicting all manners of injuries on workers.

They said Ajaero had arrived at the venue, accompanied by a few workers to inspect the carnage and provide necessary leadership for the trade union’s next action only to be met by policemen who came in their numbers and in several trucks.

“The police, accompanied by thugs led by the Special Assistant to the Governor on Special Duties, Chinasa Nwaneri, descended on the NLC president after overpowering the few workers who were left after the initial battering. They inflicted heavy injuries and blows to his head and body, kicking him in the process while dragging him on the ground in the presence of the police.

“They eventually bundled the president into their waiting van and whisked him away to an unknown destination. This latest action further demonstrates our earlier cries to Nigerians on the level of violence and impunity going on in Imo. If the NLC president can be abducted in broad daylight, imagine what they have been doing to workers and trade union leaders in the state,” the statement said.

Also, while giving account of the incident, the Chief of Staff to the NLC president, Chris Onyeka, said he was standing with Ajaero when he was brutalised and arrested.

“As workers were gathering to protest their maltreatment by the state government in Owerri, the police came amid attacks by thugs to arrest Ajaero. Thugs first attacked and dragged Ajaero from the platform before police came to arrest him along with another senior official of NLC,” he said.

Following pressure from labour leaders across the country, the security forces around 3:00p.m released Ajaero with wounds on his body and bruises on his face before he was later hospitalised.

Giving an update, Head of Information and Publicity at NLC, Benson Upah, said: “Contact was made with Congress President around 3:30p.m. at the Police Hospital in Owerri from where he was taken to Federal Medical Centre, Owerri where he is receiving medical attention.

“He was thoroughly brutalised, his right eye at the time of contact was completely shut. Ajaero, who said little, stated that immediately after his arrest, he was beaten up and blindfolded and taken to an unknown destination where more brutalisation took place, sometimes with bottles. His phones, money and other personal effects were taken off him and have not been returned to him.”

Sounding a note of warning, the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) has put its members on alert for a nationwide strike over the attack and brutalisation of Ajaero and other labour leaders.

Speaking on the development, NUPENG’s president, Prince Williams Akporeha, said: “We condemn with the strongest term the arrest and brutalisation of Congress President and other labour leaders. We reject the act of violence and barbarism being unleashed on labour leaders, workers and others. We cannot accept this uncivilised behaviour in a democracy. An injury to one is an injury to all.”
BUT the Imo State police command countered reports that it arrested Ajaero. The command’s spokesman, Henry Okafor, in a release, said Ajaero was rather taken into custody for safety following an attempt by some aggrieved union members to lynch him.

The police said there was a court order barring NLC from embarking on protest in the state, and therefore advised that the order should be respected in the interest of peace and stability in the state.

The statement read: “The NLC president was in Owerri to mobilise workers for a mega protest rally in the state. In the course of their planning, it was reported that suggestions arose for the lockdown of some essential facilities, particularly the airport, which led to some workers resisting the picketing process, leading to scuffles and heated arguments, and an eventual attack on the president by a mob.

“Upon receiving this report, the command swiftly deployed police operatives to the scene where the Officer-in-Charge exercised his operational discretion by taking the NLC president into protective custody at the state command headquarters to ensure the protection of his life, so he would not be lynched in the scuffle that followed.

“The Commissioner of Police, Mohammed Ahmed Barde, thereafter directed that he should be taken to the Police Medical Services, Owerri, where he would be accorded medical attention as a result of the attack. He has therefore been accorded adequate security cover to proceed on his other legitimate engagements for the day.”

Also, the state government has washed its hands clean concerning the manhandling and arrest of Ajaero. Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Declan Emelumba, said those accusing the government of arresting the NLC president were perennial mischief-makers always crying wolf where there is none.

The commissioner noted that the National Industrial Court in Owerri, had stopped the purported strike, which makes the planned action illegal. He added that it was in compliance with the court order that the Imo chapter of NLC announced it was pulling out of the strike.

He wondered what Ajaero was doing in Owerri in defiance of the court order, which warned of severe consequences against disobedience, saying information at the disposal of government indicated there might have been a fiasco between lawful workers of the state and lawless invaders from Abuja, which led to police intervention to maintain the peace.

Reacting to the development, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in the state, Senator Samuel Anyanwu, said Ajaero’s only offence was leading a genuine protest against Uzodimma’s government for owing workers and pensioners over 42 months arrears.

“Our investigation further revealed that the workers were protesting against the declaration of over 4,000 civil servants in the state as ghost workers. As a responsible and responsive campaign council championing a genuine cause for the people of the state, it is condemnable for Uzodinma to order the abduction of Comrade Ajaero, in a state he is a bonafide citizen.

“The question is; what is Uzodinma afraid of that he wants to dominate everywhere? If Uzodinma does not want workers to protest against nonpayment of their statutory entitlements, it is ideal for him to clear all the arrears to enable them to provide for their families.

“Our campaign council is worried that Imo in the last three and half years has been in the news for bad reasons. As Imo citizens, it is time for the people to take their state back.”

While urging Imo people, especially workers to remain calm and law-abiding, Anyanwu assured them that all issues regarding payment of their arrears will be the priority of the incoming PDP administration in the state.”