Ajaero, in white shirt singing with NLC members before the alleged attack
The Nigerian Police Force on Wednesday said its operatives saved President of the Nigerian Labour Congress, Mr. Joe Ajaero, from being lynched in Owerri, the Imo state capital.
Police, in a statement by Henry Okoye, spokesman for the Imo Command, said it was surprised by media reports that Ajaero was arrested during a protest in Owerri.
Okoye said the NLC president came to Owerri to mobilise workers for a mega-protest that had been stopped via a court injection. He explained that the president was mobbed by some angry workers who resisted the seizure of the Owerri airport during which Ajaero was attacked.”
“The Imo State Police Command wishes to clarify some sketchy reports alleging the arrest of the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Comrade Joe Ajaero, in Owerri.
“It is pertinent to state that 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 some workers and other individuals resisting the picketing process leading to scuffles and heated arguments and an eventual attack on the person of the president by a mob,” the police claimed
The command said upon getting the report of the reports, its men were deployed to the scene adding “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 statement added that the Commissioner of Police 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,” it explained
Saying that the protest Ajaero came for was illegal, the command said it is necessary to emphasize 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, psc (+), therefore urges all concerned parties to ensure compliance with the Court directives so as to avoid jeopardizing the current security arrangements on Owerri and other parts of Imo State, even as the State gears up for the forthcoming electioneering process on 11th November 2023,” the police stated