BREAKING: NLC and TUC declare national strike

Organised labourers on Friday announced a nationwide walkout on November 8 in protest of the recent attack on Joe Ajaero, the president of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), in Imo State.

Remember that during a demonstration to drive home the demands of Imo workers that appeared to be a violation of their rights, Ajaero was detained, beaten, and taken to the hospital by police officers who were purportedly associated with the state’s governor, Hope Uzodimma.

Speaking to reporters at Labour House in Abuja on Friday, Trade Union Congress (TUC) General Secretary Nuhu Toro—accompanied by other NLC officials—stated that the organisation is calling for the Commissioner of Police, Ahmed Barde, to be immediately redeployed from the State.

The speaker stated, “Comrade Joe Ajaero was blindfolded, beaten into a pulp, brutalised, humiliated, and violated by the police personnel. He was then taken to an unknown destination where he was threatened with death and subjected to more beatings and torture until help arrived in the form of Mr. Nuhu Ribadu, the National Security Adviser, who ordered his immediate release.”

The police had to transport him to the Police Hospital, though, because of the severity of his injuries, and that’s where we met him around 3:30 pm. When we initially spoke with Comrade Joe Ajaero, his speech was slurred and unintelligible, and his right eye was swollen, black, and closed. One of his ears also had a small amount of dried blood on it.

He was covered with welts. He was unable to move without assistance and was unable to recognise those around him. He had to be brought, unavoidably, to the Federal Medical Centre in Owerri for more testing.

The quick execution of all signed industrial relations agreements and an exhaustive and objective medical evaluation for Ajaero are among the other demands made by members of the TUC and NLC.

According to the TUC scribe, “We further resolved that, starting on Wednesday, November 8, 2023, NLC, TUC, and their affiliates will no longer guarantee industrial peace in Nigeria in the event the Government fails to comply with any or all of the above-stated conditions. A joint National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of the two Labour Centres will convene to determine the next course of action.”

We believe it is right to inform Nigerians of the series of events that culminated in our planned peaceful protest in Owerri, which was thwarted by the police and thugs the state governor had enlisted. This is now required to prevent them from falling for misinformation and propaganda from the police or the government.

“The Nigerian Trade Union Congress and Labour Congress resolved as follows,” Toro continued. Not only should CP Ahmed Barde, the Imo State Command Commissioner of Police, be looked into and removed from Imo State forthwith for his persistently complicitous and unprofessional actions and conduct, but

“Removed from office and deprived of commission shall be the Area Commander of the Nigeria Police Force and all other Officers and Men in Owerri, via whom the Police Commissioner oversaw the brutalization and humiliation of Comrade Ajaero and other workers;

“Comrade Joe Ajaero should be arrested right away and charged with crimes against the President and workers, as ordered by Mr. Nwaneri Chinasa, the Advisor on Special Duties who oversaw the horror on workers and the bestial cruelty inflicted the Congress President.

Given the physical and mental harm perpetrated upon Comrade Ajaero, we demand a quick, impartial, and complete expert medical evaluation.

“I hope the state treats the other workers and journalists who have been subjected to this inhumane treatment by the Police and the goons of Uzodimma, and that all lost property is promptly restored.”

“All outstanding industrial relations issues should be implemented immediately, as previously agreed upon with the Imo state government.”