Favour Ozioma Ogbodo
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) have urged Nigerians to ignore statements made by authorities that they are on strike to pursue the agenda of the NLC’s president, Joe Ajaero, saying it is to protest against the emerging culture of violence and impunity of the government.
The union said this in a statement signed by NLC’s Head of Information and Public Affairs, Benson Upah, on Wednesday.
Saying the narrative of the government is to divert the matter on ground as a “private matter”, the NLC demanded that President Bola Tinubu should “nip in the bud this burgeoning culture of harassment, intimidation, violence and terror.”
It stated, “We would want Nigerians to not lend themselves to the ‘private matter’ narrative being promoted by agents of government as it is intended to divert attention from the real issues.
“What the Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress of Nigeria are fighting through this strike action are serial acts of violence/assault and impunity committed against individuals and organisations by the Nigeria Police Force or under their watchful eye or supervision.”
It continued, “The arrest, beating and torture of Comrade Joe Ajaero represents the raising of the stakes in this culture of harassment and intimidation and we have no apology for resisting this through a strike.
“For those not in the know, tyranny begins with the loss of personal liberty through the negative deployment of state power through it’s agents. Critics of labour unions forget that they could be the next victims tomorrow.”
