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By Chukwuma Umeorah
The Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) at the weekend urged President Bola Tinubu to calll the Nigeria Police and direct its immediate vacation of the headquarters of the National Union of Road Transport Workers, (NURTW).
The TUC’s President, Festus Osifo in a statement accused the police of promoting lawlessness and consistently meddling in the affairs of trade union activities describing the forceful occupation of NURTW by security agents as an “act of impunity, irresponsibility, and a rape of the constitution.”
“The Constitution which is the supreme law of the Country states in Section 43 that ‘Subject to the provisions of this Constitution, every citizen of Nigeria shall have the right to acquire and own immovable property anywhere in Nigeria’. It goes on further in Section 44 to state that ‘no moveable property or any interest in an immovable property shall be taken possession of compulsorily and no right over or interest in any such property shall be acquired compulsorily in any part of Nigeria except in the manner and for the purposes prescribed by law’
“Therefore, the forceful occupation of the NURTW Secretariat Abuja by the Police without any court order is illegal, draconian, unconstitutional and must be reversed forthwith,” the statement read.
The TUC also expressed skepticism about the police’s statement on August 30, 2023, which claimed their actions were meant to prevent a factional clash within the union.
Osifo argued that this explanation was misleading and failed to address the ongoing illegal occupation of NURTW offices in Lagos.
Furthermore, the TUC reminded the public that they had previously brought to the attention of the Inspector General of Police an April 18, 2023 order from the National Industrial Court, requesting the police to intervene in enforcing a judgment in favour of the Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN) offices in Lagos. This court order, according to the TUC, remains unenforced by the police.
The TUC firmly asserted that instead of maintaining law and order, the police’s actions, both in Abuja and Lagos, were promoting lawlessness and disorder.
The TUC warned of potential solidarity actions with the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) should their demands not be met, emphasizing the urgency of addressing this matter promptly.
