- By Demola Atobaba, Ado-Ekiti
The brutalized President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, Comrade Joe Ajaero has been rushed to the Federal Medical Centre, FMC, Owerri with his right eye completely shut.
The NLC Head of Information and Publicity, Comrade Benson Upah, described what happened to Ajaero as an act of abduction that degenerated into attempted murder.
He said that “contact has been made with Congress President, Comrade Joe Ajaero this evening around 15:30 hours at the Police Hospital in Owerri from where he was taken to Federal Medical Centre, Owerri where he is receiving medical attention.
“Thoroughly brutalized, his right eye at the time of contact was completely shut.”
He further said, “Ajaero, who said little stated that immediately after his arrest, he was beaten up and blindfolded and taken to an unknown destination where more brutalisation took place, sometimes with bottles.
“His phones, money and other personal effects were taken off him and have not been returned to him.”
Meanwhile, the Imo State Police Command has debunked the alleged arrest of the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Comrade Joe Ajaero, in Owerri.
According to a release made available to TopNewsng by the Police Public Relations Officer, Imo State says the NLC President was in Owerri as part of arrangements of the Congress to mobilize workers for a mega protest rally in the state.
In the course of their planning, it was reported that suggestions arose for the lockdown of some essential facilities particularly the airport which led to the resistance of the process by some individuals, leading to scuffles and heated arguments and an eventual attack on the NLC Chairman by a mob.
The statement notes that upon receiving the report, the Imo Police Command swiftly deployed police operatives to the scene where the Officer in Charge exercised his operational discretion by taking the NLC President into protective custody at the State Command Headquarters to ensure the protection of his life and that he was not lynched in the scuffle that followed.
The Commissioner of Police thereafter directed that he should be taken to the Police Medical Services, Owerri, where he would be accorded medical attention as a result of the attack.
He has therefore been accorded adequate security cover to proceed on his other legitimate engagements for the day.
The statement emphasizes the existence of a court injunction from the National Industrial Court of Nigeria holden in Owerri with Suit No. NICN/OW/41/2023 dated 27th October, 2023, barring the NLC from holding the intended protest rally in Owerri.
The Commissioner of Police, Imo State Police Command, CP Mohammed Ahmed Barde, enjoined all concerned parties to ensure compliance with the Court directives so as to avoid jeopardizing the current security arrangements in Owerri and other parts of Imo State.
