How NLC Leader, Joe Ajaero Was Arrested, Beating, Battered Like A Thief In Imo

Imo State State is in the news with its consistent awkward uncivilised pattern of addressing issues vide a democratic norm when the Nigeria Labour Congress President was arrested in a Gestapo manner but would later resurface looking bitterly beating and battered.

Like Nigeria Democratic Reports records: It was black Wednesday for Labour movement in Nigeria on Wednesday. There were scary tales on what happened to the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress in Owerri. Early in the day, the news was that he has been arrested. Later that he was brutalised and abducted. The NLC in a statement its first statement said he was “brutalized and abducted by men of the Nigerian Police” but the Police said he was saved from a mob action and kept in Police custody from further attacks.

Whatever, it was, one thing was sure: Comrade Joe Ajaero was beaten black and blue, brutalized with visible bruises all over his face and one of his eyes injured in the process. The NLC Head of Information and Publicity, Comrade Benson Upah, described what happened to Ajaero as an “act of abduction that degenerated into attempted murder”.

He said that “contact has been made with Congress President, Comrade Joe Ajaero around 15:30 hours at the Police Hospital in Owerri from where he was taken to Federal Medical Centre, Owerri for extensive medical attention.

“Thoroughly brutalized, his right eye at the time of contact was completely shut.” He further said. “Ajaero, who corroborated his narrative stated that immediately after his arrest, he was beaten up and blindfolded and taken to an unknown destination where more brutalisation took place, sometimes with bottles.

“His phones, money and other personal effects were taken off him and have not been returned to him.”

There were, however conflicting accounts of what led to his attack. One account said the NLC President was addressing workers at their secretariat in Owerri when armed security operatives stormed the premises, picked the labour leader and whisked him to a yet-to-be-known destination. Another account said the workers were being mobilised to go to the airport and disrupt travellers’ activities.

Imo state was hosting a retreat of the top echelon of the Nigeria Police on Wednesday. The Inspector General of Police Kayode Egbetokun was already seated at the event centre where the retreat was holding while the incident took place.

Many workers believed the arrest and brutalization of the NLC President may have been instigated by the State government. There’s has been a no love lost situation between the NLC President and the Labour Leader, who incidentally is also an indigene of the State. This incident has happened just about 10 days to governorship election in the state.

The immediate trigger was the directive from the NLC to workers in the state to embark on a mass protest demanding implementation of their rights from the state government. These include appropriate payment of the minimum wage, pensions and gratuities to retirees, among other welfare packages. That was the third of such protests since Ajaero emerged NLC president in February this year.

But the Imo State government, through the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Cyprian Akaolisa, had approached the National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN) to issue an order stopping the action. It was alleged that there was a Court Order restraining the NLC from embarking on the protest or any strike action.

The NLC in the state may have been divided into two factions because a group loyal to the state governor was against the protests. It was being insinuated that the factional group may have collaborated with some state actors to orchestrate the attacks on Ajaero. After the attack, Ajaero could be seen in a video lamenting the kind of beating he received “God must have created specially otherwise I should have passed by now from the kind of beaten I received”, he said.

The organised labour has condemned what happened in strong terms. In a joint statement signed by the NLC General Secretary, Comrade Emmanuel Ugboaja and TUC’s Comrade Nuhu Toro, the two labour unions put workers on alert for an immediate nationwide action if Ajaero is not released by the end of Wednesday.

“We call on Nigerian workers, wherever they may be; in the respective industrial Unions; the state Councils and the Branches to be on alert for an immediate nationwide action if by the end of today, the President of the Congress is not released,” the statement read.

“We cannot be at work while our President is in the gulag and we cannot be at peace when the Government of Imo state continues to disrespect workers and treat them with utter disdain.

“With this statement, we want to put the Nigerian Government on notice that we want the President of Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) immediately released.

“The injuries meted to him must be treated forthwith and his freedom to lead Nigerian workers in a peaceful protest guaranteed.

“This is what we demand as we proceed to the meetings of the various Organs to take decisions on further steps that will be taken. If this is not heeded now, anything that happens in the Country, the Governor of Imo State and the Police Commissioner must be held responsible.”

The Joint Statement by the NLC and TUC

WE NEVER ARRESTED NLC PRESIDENT – POLICE

The Imo State Police Command wishes to clarify some sketchy reports alleging the arrest of the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Comrade Joe Ajaero, in Owerri. It is pertinent to state that the NLC President was in Owerri as part of arrangements of the Congress to mobilize 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 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 Command Headquarters to ensure the protection of his life and that he was not lynched in the scuffle that followed. The Commissioner of Police thereafter directed that he should be taken to the Police Medical Services, Owerri, where he would be accorded medical attention as a result of the attack. He has therefore been accorded adequate security cover to proceed on his other legitimate engagements for the day.

It is however necessary to emphasize the existence of a court injunction from the National Industrial Court of Nigeria holden in Owerri with Suit No. NICN/OW/41/2023 dated 27th October, 2023, barring the NLC from holding the intended protest rally in Owerri.

The Commissioner of Police, Imo State Police Command, CP Mohammed Ahmed Barde, psc (+), therefore urges all concerned parties to ensure compliance with the Court directives so as to avoid jeopardizing the current security arrangements on Owerri and other parts of Imo State, even as the State gears up for the forthcoming electioneering process on 11th November 2023.

The statement was signed by ASP Okoye Henry, the Imo State Public Relations Officer of the State Command.

– Nigeria Democratic Report