The President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero, was today beaten blue-black today; he fainted and was carried away in Owerri, the Imo State capital.
It was alleged that a Special Assistant to the governor of the state arrived the protest ground with over 50 security personnels, (Navy, DSS, Police) and thugs; beat up those who had gathered, seized phones of those making videos, but concentrated more on the NLC president, beating him to stupor.
Earlier, Channels TV reported that Ajaero was picked up from the NLC State Council Secretariat by heavily armed policemen in Owerri and taken to an unknown destination according to the Head of Media at the NLC Headquarters, Benson Uper.
The NLC is leading a statewide protest and strike in Owerri over what it described as lack of respect for workers, unpaid salaries and pensions, amongst others. The source said the police arrested Ajaero giving reasons that the labour leader has disobeyed an existing court order by the National Industrial Court restraining the NLC and the Trades Union Congress (TUC) from carrying out any protest in the state.
When contacted, the police spokesperson in Imo, Henry Okoye, said he had no information on the arrest of the labour leader yet, saying that he would make the information available as soon as he gets a clear picture of the situation.
However, another police source said that Ajaero was in protective custody.
The source said a fight broke out between members of the NLC from Abuja and some workers in Imo who are angry about the action of the NLC President. The source said the police got wind of the incident and acted to protect the NLC President from any form of attack by taking him into protective custody.
Meanwhile, the NLC leadership in Imo has dissociated itself from the protest with reasons that the allegations by the NLC national leadership against the state government were untrue. Additionally, the Imo State Government said it had no hand in Ajaero’s arrest. The state’s Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Declan Emelumba, wondered what Ajaero was doing in Owerri in defiance of the order of the court, which warned of severe consequences against disobedience.
He said information at the disposal of government indicated that there might have been a fiasco between lawful workers of Imo State and “lawless invaders” from Abuja, which led to police intervention to maintain the peace.
In a statement on Wednesday, NLC and TUC national leaderships in Abuja accused the Imo State Government of intimidation against trade unions in the state
