The recent brutalisation of the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero, in Owerri, the Imo State capital, is one incident that has widened the gulf in the relations between the government and organized labour in the country. We condemn the barbaric and needless attack on Ajaero. According to reports, the labour leader was picked up from the NLC State Council Secretariat by heavily armed policemen and taken to an unknown destination. He was in Owerri to lead a statewide protest and strike over what the NLC described as lack of respect for workers, unpaid salaries and pensions, amongst others.
Ajaero was said to be addressing the workers at the NLC Secretariat, when heavily armed security operatives stormed the premises, picked him and whisked him to an unknown destination. He later reemerged with a bruised and swollen face after his release by the police and was rushed to the Federal Medical Centre, Owerri, for medical treatment. The NLC head of Information and Publicity, Comrade Benson Upah, disclosed that Ajaero’s right eye was completely shut and swollen on account of the beatings he received from his captors.
The incident, incidentally took place as the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, was in town for the retreat for Senior Police Officers in Owerri. There were allegations that the labour leader was abducted by the police on the orders of the governor, Hope Uzodimma, for mobilising a workers’ strike in the state.
Imo State government and the state’s police command, have vehemently denied any involvement in the matter. The police, in a statement, claimed that its men did not arrest Ajaero but saved him from mob attack.
The release stated; “It is pertinent to state that the NLC President was in Owerri as part of arrangements of the Congress to mobilise workers for a mega protest rally in the state. In the course of their planning, it was reported that suggestions arose for the lockdown of some essential facilities particularly the airport which led to some workers and other individuals resisting the picketing process leading to scuffles and heated arguments and an eventual attack on the person of the president by a mob.
“Upon receiving this report, the Imo State Police Command swiftly deployed police operatives to the scene where the Officer in Charge exercised his operational discretion by taking the NLC President into protective custody at the State Police Command Headquarters to ensure the protection of his life and that he was not lynched in the scuffle that followed.”
Concerned Nigerians and groups have decried the role of the police in the matter. The Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP), Nigeria, has strongly condemned the attack and criticized the reported complicity of the police in failing to protect protesting workers and the organised labour’s property in the state. Similarly, human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, in faulting the police explanation, equally wondered why the police failed to arrest the miscreants that brutalised Ajaero in their presence. The violence against Ajaero is uncalled for. This is not the first time of unleashing violence on labour leaders and members in Imo State. During the 2023 May Day celebration in the state, an NLC organised event was disrupted by hoodlums in the presence of security agents. As in the latest incident, no arrests were made. The recent attack coming barely five months after the May episode, is one too many. The attack on the labour leader was not accidental. It was apparently planned and clinically executed.
We call on the Inspector General of Police to ensure that officers or persons involved in manhandling Ajaero are apprehended and duly prosecuted. Those behind the unwarranted brutalisation of the labour leader in his own state must never go unpunished, whether they are hoodlums of agents of the state. The police should at all times protect every citizen, including labour leaders and their members.
The role of the police in this matter is not tidy. It is also the duty of the government of Imo State to protect its citizens. The government should not watch while the so-called hoodlums attack the NLC President in Imo State. Let the government try to improve its relations with organised labour and workers in the state. It is worth pointing out that the primary duty of government is the security and welfare of the people. Unfortunately, the government failed Ajaero on this score. Attacking the NLC President in Owerri is an assault on the entire Nigerian workers.
The laws of the land provide for freedom of movement and association of the citizens. Under no circumstances should those rights be abridged or trampled upon by any person or group of persons under whatever guises. Resort to self-help or use of force to resolve labour-related issues should be avoided by all the parties concerned.
Let the government and labour leaders work towards fashioning out alternative conflict resolution mechanisms that will not involve the application of force. At all times, negotiations remain the best weapon to resolve all issues affecting government and its workers.