JUST IN: President NLC “arrested” in Imo

Joe Ajaero, the National President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, was reportedly arrested by the Nigeria Police Force on Wednesday in Imo State’s capital, Owerri.

Ajaero was picked up in the state secretariat of the congress, according to Benson Upah, Head of Information for the NLC, and taken to an undisclosed location.

Upah sent our correspondent a text message saying, “President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Comrade Joe Ajaero was picked up a few minutes ago from NLC state council secretariat by heavily armed policemen in Owerri and taken to an unknown destination.”

Read Also: Ajaero insists that the NLC’s planned strike is to save Nigerians

Remember that on November 1, 2023, the NLC pledged to mobilise its members for a full-scale strike in Imo state?

Ajaero charged the Imo State Government of “violating the rights of the Nigerian workers in the state” at a press conference on Sunday.

Ajaero bemoaned the fact that many workers had perished as a result of what he claimed was the state governor Hope Uzodimma’s indifference of their wellbeing.

He listed some of the alleged transgressions committed by Uzodimma against its employees, such as the purported inability to carry out prior agreements, particularly the one struck on January 9, 2021; unpaid salary arrears of nearly two years; unfair labelling of employees as “ghost workers”; and unpaid gratuity arrears, among other things.

He claims that over 11,000 employees have been classified as ghost workers by the Imo State Government, and approximately 10,000 pensioners have had their benefits incorrectly categorised as ghost pensioners, leading to almost 22 months of unpaid pensions.

The president of the NLC also bemoaned the state government’s noncompliance with the federal minimum wage, pointing out that Governor Uzodinma has opposed the application of social dialogue and collective bargaining to address the problems.

More information to come.