• Wants Imo Governorship Election Suspended Indefinitely
• CP Redeployed, Area Commander De-commissioned Over Assault On President
The Organised Labour has threatened to withdraw their services nationwide with effect from Tuesday, November 7, over the abduction and brutalisation of the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero, during a planned protest in Imo State.
Ajaero was on Wednesday abducted and brutalised by thugs allegedly sponsored by the Imo State government.
Addressing a press conference yesterday, in Abuja, Deputy Presidents of the NLC and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Adewale Adeyanju and Dr. Tommy Okon respectively, gave insight into what transpired in Imo State where the NLC had gone to protest the violation of workers’ rights that led to an attack by the hoodlums, urging the Federal Government to declare a state of emergency in the state.
They said they could not pretend that there was a modicum of democracy in the state, demanding that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) should put on hold indefinitely the conduct of any gubernatorial election in Imo until it becomes manifestly clear that conditions for a fair, credible and transparent election have been met.
They advised the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Olukayode Egbetokun, not to consort with politicians of questionable character or have his bills picked up by them to avoid compromising the integrity of his office.
The labour leaders also demanded that the Commissioner of Police in Imo be deployed out of the state for his unprofessional behaviour and conduct, insisting that the Area Commander of the Nigeria Police Force in Owerri, through whom it alleged that the Police Commissioner supervised the brutalisation and humiliation of Ajaero and other workers, be relieved of his office and stripped of his commission.
“That all the officers and men, who participated in the bestial treatment of workers in violation of their oath of commission or office, be relieved of their commands and commission and to face criminal charges after orderly room trial,” the labour leaders said.
Among other demands, they asked for an immediate, independent and unbiased thorough professional medical examination of Ajaero in light of the physical and psychological injuries inflicted on him, adding that all the outstanding industrial relations issues as previously agreed with the Imo State government be implemented immediately.
According to Adeyanju, there was an urgent need to rescue democracy in Imo State.
He said the “tyranny of the governor, the reign of terror, the graveyard silence, the palpable fear in the air, the spiraling vortex of organised violence in the state are causes for concern.”
According to him, the situation was so bad that no political opponent dares to paste his or her poster in any corner of the state.
“In the interest of our democracy, we urge the Federal Government to stop looking the other way while these atrocities go on. We urge the Federal Government to sanction all of its employees, servants or privies in the habit of aiding and abetting the reign of terror in the state.
Stating some of the sequences of events that led to the NLC going to Owerri to protest, Adeyanju said the state had not paid workers’ salaries and pensions for upward of 22 months and in some instances 44 months.
“The government repeatedly observed in breach agreements it voluntarily reached with Labour, among which was the January 9, 2021, agreement and the non-implementation of the National Minimum Wage Law causing distortions and pains among the working class in the state, as well as serial vandalism of Congress secretariat for no just cause,” he said.
He denied that no court order was served to the Congress, saying the claim by the police that it disobeyed a court order was false.
Adeyanju said should the government fail to meet their demands, the NLC and TUC, including all affiliates, would withdraw their service from Nov 7, without any notice.
