Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, on Tuesday berated President Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led federal government over Monday’s arrest of the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero, and the takeover of the Abuja office of the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) by the Department of State Services (DSS).
Ajaero was arrested in the early hours of Monday by the Department of State Service (DSS) at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja and few hours later, DSS operatives laid siege to SERAP’s office in Abuja.
Atiku, who was the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Presidential candidate in last year’s election, warned in a statement posted on his verified X account that “the level of oppressive control now imposed surpasses even the harshest days of military dictatorship.”
Atiku wrote: “The escalating assault on civil society and the media by the Bola Tinubu administration are profoundly disturbing. The level of oppressive control now imposed surpasses even the harshest days of military dictatorship.
“The recent arrest of Mr. Joe Ajaero, President of the Nigerian Labour Congress, en route to an official event, epitomizes this regime’s relentless campaign to intimidate and subdue organized labour.
“Just days prior, security forces detained a journalist, only to later claim it was a grievous error. What if the outcome had been fatal?
“Now, Tinubu’s regime extends its repressive grasp to encroach upon @SERAPNigeria, an action that stands as a grave affront to our democratic values. This siege is anathema to the principles of freedom and justice.”
Atiku called on Tinubu to focus the nation’s security agencies towards eradicating the horrors of terrorists and bandits, and not to haunt the nation’s civil society.
“It is imperative that Tinubu and his security apparatus redirect their fervour and intimidation towards the actual perpetrators of violence — terrorists and bandits — who are inflicting immeasurable suffering upon the Nigerian people. -AA”