The Nigeria Police has said that the Presdient of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero, was not arrested but was taken into protective custody after he was attacked by ‘unknown workers.’
Commissioner of Police, Mohammed Barde, in a statement by Command Spokesperson, Henry Okoye, said the NLC President was in Owerri for the workers mega rally.
NLC Head of Information and Publicity, Comrade Benson Upah, said Ajaero was rushed to the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Owerri after he was released and that his right eye was completely shut after he was beaten.
Upah said: “Contact was made with Comrade Ajaero around 15:30 hours at the Police Hospital in Owerri from where he was taken to FMC where he is receiving medical attention.
“Thoroughly brutalised, his right eye at the time of contact was completely shut.
“Ajaero 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.”
Sources said that “the NLC President was given ‘general unprecedented beating’ by a combination of thugs and security personnel sent to the planned protest ground by the government of Governor Hope Uzodinma. The beatings only stopped when Ajaero fainted and the security agents, led by the Police, carried him away.”
But according to the Police Spokesperson, a scuffle broke out at the airport with some workers during picketing, which resulted in a heated argument and an eventual attack on Ajaero.
He said the command deployed operatives and the officer-in-charge exercised his discretion to take the Labour leader into protective custody.
The statement reads: “The Police Command wishes to clarify some sketchy reports alleging the arrest of Comrade Ajaero in Owerri.
“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 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 emphasise 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.”
Barde urged all concerned to ensure compliance with the order to avoid jeopardising security arrangements ahead of the November 11 governorship election.
The Imo government denied any involvement with Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Declan Emelumba, saying those accusing the government of arresting Ajaero were perennial mischief makers always crying wolf where there is none.
He noted that the Imo chapter of the NLC complied with the court order by pulling out of the “illegal” strike.
He wondered what Ajaero was doing in Owerri in defiance of the court, which warned of severe consequences for disobedience.
He said information at the government’s disposal indicated that there might have been a fiasco between lawful workers and lawless invaders from Abuja, which led to police intervention to maintain the peace.
Emelumba stressed that the state government had no hand in the arrest since it believes in the rule of law.
Meanwhile, the pro-All Progressive Congress (APC) group in the Labour Party (LP) led by Lamidi Apapa knocked Ajaero for embarking on a protest in defiance of the order.
The group, in a statement by its Spokesperson, Abayomi Arabambi, accused Ajaero of trying to overthrow the Hope Uzodimma Administration.
“The LP condemned in its entirety the moves by the leadership of the organised labour unions, particularly the NLC President, Joe Ajaero, in using strike and unlawful protests to commit contempt of court and unlawfully trying to intimidate the Governor. The NLC has become a political instrument…for grounding the country.
“The Police and security agencies should charge the arrested Ajaero to court for conniving with the illegal faction of the LP loyal to Peter Obi to cause political instability in the country.
“Orders of court as made must be obeyed until set aside. While it is not desirable for the courts to make unbridled orders, and courts should not do anything to put a clog in the wheel of justice, orders of the court are to be respected and obeyed.
“The dignity and honour of court cannot be maintained if its orders are treated disdainfully and scornfully without due respect.”