By Cross Udo, with additional report
The Organised Labour yesterday called on President Bola Tinubu and the Inspector-General of Police to act fast and ensure that those behind the brutalisation of the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero, are brought to book.
The Organised Labour also said that the action it took by blocking the road to the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja to stop flights going to Imo State was one among other actions to be taken over the dastardly act perpetuated by the Imo State Government and its agents.
This came as the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo SAN, cautioned the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) against politicising the alleged maltreatment of Ajaero, saying politics may destroy the labour movement in the country.
Similarly, the Imo State Governor, Senator Hope Uzodimma, accused the NLC President of pursuing the agenda of the Labour Party in the state.
*Pickets Abuja airport, stops flights to Owerri
Speaking at the protest rally at the airport, the President of the TUC, Festus Osifo, warned the Federal Government to act swiftly to ensure that the uprising in the Middle East where an individual was brutalised in Tunisia does not happen in Nigeria.
According to him, “An injury to one is an injury to all. Somebody asked me why we were at the Abuja airport, is it a national issue that the issue is in Imo state and we said no, the person that was brutalised is a national figure.
“Our President is a national figure and the Police that brutalised him is a national institution, they are not Imo State Police. The Police that brutalised him, report to the Inspector-General of Police, who in turn reports to the President of Nigeria.
“So, since this is a national issue we must make it one. Governor Hope Uzodinma cannot unleash thugs with the Nigerian Police in Imo state on someone who has been peacefully fighting for the interest of the Nigerian workers.
“For us, we say no, no, what is happening is just the first stage of the series of activities that will happen, except the Nigerian government do the needful and arrest those people who perpetrated the evil act on the NLC president and Nigerian workers.
“This is not acceptable and this must not be allowed by the Nigerian workers. Comrades let us be strong and this is a marathon. It is not a dash race, we are just starting until the government does the needful, the Area Commander that perpetuated this, led those armed men who called themselves members of the Imo State Police are called to order.
“They must be prosecuted and they must be brought to book. It is not just to transfer the Commissioner of Police in Imo state, there are series of actions that must be taken by the Nigerian government because an injury to one is an injuring all.”
Osifo further said, “Injustice is the same everywhere whether it happened in Imo state or any state in Nigeria, once you do this to any Nigerian workers we have the right to fight for the right of the particular person across the nation.”
“The uprising that happened sometime in the Middle East was caused by one individual who was brutalised in Tunisia and it caused an uprising in the entire Middle East. The Nigerian president must act, the IGP must act and the time to act is now.”
Also speaking, Chris Onyeka, Assistant General Secretary of NLC, said that the action of the Organised Labour was geared towards liberating workers in Imo State who have been subjected to inhuman treatment by Governor Hope Uzodimma.
He said, “We have blocked the airport to ground activities, to make sure that no flight takes off, neither any flight comes in to eventually force the government to do something about what happened in Imo state on November 1 and the serial abuse and violation of the rights of workers in Imo state. We call it operation liberty for Imo state workers.
“As far as we are concerned flight from Imo State airport goes to Abuja and Lagos. Once we can hold the two places, you have incarcerated the Owerri airport. So no flight will go in there today, and neither will any go in until they lose into us. If flights don’t go in, they won’t come out.”
READ ALSO:The final showdown
*NLC President pursuing LP interest in Imo, says Uzodinma
Meanwhile, Governor Uzodimma has accused Ajaero of pursuing the agenda of the LP in the state.
“Joe Ajaero is pursuing his interest,” the governor said yesterday on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme.
“He (Ajaero) has said times with number that he is a member of Labour Party (LP). He is a candidate in the election of Imo State. So, he is driving whatever programme that will give an advantage to Labour Party in Imo State.”
Ajaero was attacked in Owerri last Wednesday just before a planned protest in the state to press the state government to heed the demands of the workers in the state.
The NLC accused the Uzodimma government of supervising the assault on Ajaero but the government has denied the allegations.
The NLC and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) had since ordered the shutdown of essential services in Imo as a protest of the attack on Ajaero and declared a nationwide strike effective November 14, 2023.
On Wednesday, aviation unions in Nigeria directed their workers to withdraw services to all public and private Owerri flights (both inwards and outwards) with effect from midnight. The unions said the strike is indefinite until otherwise directed by the NLC and the TUC.
Yesterday, Labour picketed the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja and grounded air travel activities at the airport.
Uzodimma said he does not know why the NLC leader has been hostile to his government.
He, however, said he looks forward to the day he will engage Labour.
“Surprisingly, an NLC president from Imo State will be hostile to my government,” he said.
The governor further said contrary to claims by the NLC, there were backlogs of salaries that were not paid before he came that his administration has cleared.
Uzodimma said some workers were ghost workers while some received double salaries before they were discovered and stopped.
Governorship elections will be held on Saturday, November 11, in Bayelsa, Imo and Kogi states.
In Imo, Uzodimma is seeking re-election and is being challenged by 17 other candidates including Samuel Anyanwu of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Labour Party (LP)’s Achonu Nneji as well as Jack Ogunewe of the Action Alliance (AA).
