The governor of Imo State, Hope Uzodinma, has been connected to the arrest of NLC President Joe Ajaero in Owerri by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC).
According to NLC, Uzodinma planned to “abduct” Ajaero in Owerri with the help of Muhammad Barde, the commissioner of Imo State Police.
This was said in a communiqué that Nuhu Toro (TUC) and Emmanuel Ugboaja (NLC) signed.
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The unions claimed that Uzodinma was intimidating and employing violence against the state’s labour unions.
The statement said, in part: “The government unleashed blood-curdling mayhem on the workers just as Nigerian workers gathered earlier this morning led by the leadership of the two Labour centres to demonstrate our outrage over the serial and habitual abuse and violation of workers’ rights in the state.”
Police had unsuccessfully attempted to scatter employees who were assembling at the state NLC secretariat earlier in the morning. This was followed in the customary fashion by “thugs” in multiple Hilux and Toyota pickups who were positioned close to the Secretariat.
The few workers who had already assembled were later subjected to mayhem by these ‘thugs,’ who broke car windows, cut some with matchets, stabbed numerous people, and caused numerous other injuries. The hoodlums stole GSM phones, stole laptops, and took money with force.
“As if that damage wasn’t enough, Imo State Police Command officers showed up in large numbers and multiple trucks when NLC President Comrade Joe Ajaero and a few lone workers arrived at the scene to survey the carnage and offer the necessary leadership for the trade union action to continue.”
