The Nigeria Labour Congress and Amnesty International have demanded the immediate and unconditional release of NLC President Joe Ajaero by security agencies.
The NLC, in a statement by its spokesperson, Benson Upah, said it “will not stand idly by while the rights of its leaders and members are trampled upon.”
In its statement, Amnesty International said it “strongly condemns the unlawful arrest of the President of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) Joe Ajaero by the Department of State Services (DSS) today. The labour union leader must be immediately and unconditionally released.”
It was reported the arrest of Mr Ajaero on Monday morning.
The NLC said the labour leader was arrested at the Abuja airport while trying to board a flight to the UK for a Trade Union Congress gathering.
“The arbitrary arrest of Joe Ajaero shows an escalating crackdown on human rights and restrictions on civic space by the government of President Bola Tinubu.”
“President Bola Tinubu’s government persistently attacks and undermines the operations of the NLC, through fabricated allegations, raids on NLC headquarters and other forms of harassment and intimidation. This growing culture of impunity and disdain for workers’ rights to organize and seek better welfare must stop.
“President Tinubu is setting a new record of utter disregard for the rule of law,” Isa Sanusi, head of Amnesty International in Nigeria, wrote in a statement.
The NLC said in its statement that Mr Ajaero was “detained without any legal warrant or formal instrument. Joe Ajaero is not a fugitive.”
“His detention is therefore a brazen act of lawlessness and intimidation as he has not been declared wanted by any law enforcement body. His detention is a brazen act of intimidation and completely unjustified under the laws of our nation,” the statement said.
It added that the development amounted to “not just stopping a lawful citizen from travelling but also sequestering his freedom is an affront to our democratic and natural rights as a people and as workers.”
None of the security agencies has spoken about the arrest. The SSS recently redeployed its spokesperson, Peter Afunanya, without announcing a replacement.
Mr Ajaero and the NLC have been having running battles with the federal government over what the union described as a clampdown by security agencies.
It was reported that the labour leader has been summoned twice by the police in recent weeks over allegations surrounding a Briton, Drew Povey, who owns a bookshop at the NLC headquarters.
His arrest came close to the time SSS operatives also stormed the office of a leading transparency and accountability-focussed civil society organisation in Nigeria, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) in Abuja on Monday.
The NLC noted that there is a rising wave of authoritarianism under the administration of President Bola Tinubu in the country.
It said Mr Ajaero’s arrest “is an unmistakable demonstration of the height of lawlessness being perpetuated by the Nigerian government and its agencies in their bid to silence every voice of dissent and opposition in the country as the economic policies of the government continues to afflict the people with monumental suffering and hardship.”
“Such actions are not only undemocratic but immoral as well as a direct affront to the fundamental rights of citizens and organisations to lawfully express their views and carry out their activities.”
The labour union called on the international community, human rights organisations to join efforts with them in demanding the unconditional release of Mr Ajaero.
“The Congress will not stand idly by while the rights of its leaders and members are trampled upon. Accordingly, we demand for the immediate and unconditional release of comrade Joe Ajaero.
“All advocates of democracy [are] to take note of this rising wave of authoritarianism in Nigeria. The world must bear witness to these assaults on human dignity, civil liberties, and the rule of law,” the union’s spokesperson said.
“In light of this troubling development, the Congress puts all its affiliates, State Councils, Civil society allies and all patriotic Nigerians on the highest state of alert.”
“Furthermore, we call on the international community, human rights organizations, and all advocates of democracy to take note of this rising wave of authoritarianism in Nigeria. The world must bear witness to these assaults on human dignity, civil liberties, and the rule of law.”
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