By Cross Udo, Abuja
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has told Nigerians to disregard the concocted report that the Congress President, Joe Ajaero, ignored an invitation from the Department of State Services (DSS) before he was arrested.
The NLC said it was not in Comrade Ajaero’s character to disregard invitations, noting that his presence at the Police station when he was invited attests to that.
In a statement titled “Disregard these stories,” signed by Benson Upah, Head of Information and Public Affairs, the NLC said, “Our attention has been drawn to a story (circulating in different media platforms) linked to sources within the agency (DSS)” that Comrade Joe Ajaero, President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, was invited by the DSS but did not honour the invitation preceding his arrest.
“The “sources” further added that it was the reason for his arrest at the airport on his way to the UK.
“We would like to set the records straight as follows: In the days preceding his arrest, the Congress President had discussed with the DG DSS on a courtesy visit. A Director in the agency later called the General Secretary of the Congress to fix a date for the courtesy visit.
“The General Secretary, however, explained that he would be available on Friday (September 13). The said Director assured him they would give Congress leadership a notice of not less than 48 hours for the visit.
“The DG DSS last spoke with Ajaero on Saturday night during which Ajaero told him he would be travelling the next day, Sunday, adding that the courtesy visit would be paid after his return on Friday, September 13.
“The Congress President, however, missed his flight on Sunday and had it rescheduled to Monday, September 9. On that Monday morning, he was picked up by the operatives of the DSS in a watch list operation on behalf of a sister agency.
“We want to re-affirm that Joe Ajaero is a law-abiding citizen heading the most prominent pan-Nigerian organisation with an illustrious history of patriotism and will certainly not snub the DSS.
“He is a trade unionist of international repute who serves on the executive boards of world federations of trade unions. His constituency goes beyond Nigeria. It is not in his character to disregard invitations and precedents (his honouring the police invitation) attest to this.”
