- Pix above: Joe Ajaero in pains
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The organised labour comprising the Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress of Nigeria has declared a nationwide strike to protest brutal attack of its leader, Comrade Joe Ajaero, in Owerri, Imo State capital, Southeast of Nigeria.
–Ajaero in pains
The strike scheduled to be held on Wednesday, November 8, 2023, was made known in a press briefing todaqy, Friday, November 3.
–Ajaero in pains
According to the leaders of the joint union, the Federal Government is given a six-point demand, including the immediate removal of the Commissioner of Police, Imo State, and Area Commander, among other officials, for their alleged complicity in the brutalisation and humiliation of Ajaero and other workers.
–l-r:Gov Uzodimma, Ajaero and police before the attack
The NLC’s Deputy President, Adeyanju Adewale, and TUC’s Deputy President, Tommy Okon, addressed the press on behalf of workers.
—-As Organised Labour spoils for war
Text of their briefing reads inter alia: “The NLC President was blindfolded and whisked away by security operatives in the state before intervention from the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu.
“He was also beaten along with other workers with his phone seized, and journalists also maltreated with evidence shrouded away from the public.”
The union further expressed workers’ worry over the negligence of the Federal Government on the issue and the non-intervention of security personnel despite being briefed about their leaders’ presence in the state.
The State Online reports that the National President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Comrade Joe Ajaero, was, in the early hours of Wednesday, arrested and brutalized in Owerri, Imo State capital, by operatives of the Nigeria Police Force. He was thereafter hospitalized following injuries given him.
NLC’s Head of Information, Benson Upah, said Ajaero was picked up at the state secretariat of the congress and taken to an unknown location.
He said: “President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Joe Ajaero, was picked up a few minutes ago from NLC state council secretariat by heavily armed policemen in Owerri and taken to an unknown destination.”
Reports had it that the NLC had vowed to mobilise its members for a total strike in Imo State starting November 1, 2023.
Ajaero, during a press briefing on Sunday, had accused the Imo State Government of “violating the rights of the Nigerian workers in the state.”
Accusing the state governor, Hope Uzodimma, of neglecting workers’ welfare, Ajaero lamented that many of them have died because of the alleged lack of payment of their salaries.
He outlined some of the infractions against workers by Uzodimma to include the alleged refusal to implement previous agreements, especially the accord reached on January 9, 2021, outstanding salary arrears of about 20 months, unjust declaration of workers as ghost workers, declaration of pensioners as ghost workers and unsettled gratuity arrears, among others.
According to him, approximately 10,000 pensioners have been wrongly labelled as ghost pensioners resulting in over 22 months of unpaid pensions while about 11,000 workers have been branded by the Imo State Government as ghost workers.
The NLC president also lamented the non-compliance with the national minimum wage by the state government, adding that Governor Uzodinma has resisted the use of social dialogue and collective bargaining to resolve the issues, but had rather chosen to blackmail, kidnap and torture him, using the police and state’s political thugs.
Following this, the organized labour had vowed to embark on nationwide strike on Wednesday, November 8, until their demands were met. .”/SHARE THIS
- Tags: Comrade Joe Ajaero, Gov Hope Uzodimma, NLC, TUC
