The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has directed all workers across the country to shut down the economy if Joe Ajaero, the NLC’s president, is arrested by operatives of the Nigerian Police Force.
Recall that the police had summoned the NLC president, Joe Ajaero for questioning in regards to allegations concerning financing of terrorism and other charges.
In response to this act by the police, an emergency meeting of the National Executive Council (NEC) took place at the Labour House on Tuesday.
During the meeting, the NEC decided that the president would honour the police’s invitation but would also request additional time from the police, allowing for consultations with their legal team.
Deputy President of the NLC, Comrade Ado Kabiru Sani, addressed the workers and urged the entire nation’s workforce to be prepared for further instructions if the police’s actions do not align with the union’s expectations regarding Ajaero’s detention.
He said: “As a committed labour centre, we will honour the invitation of the police because we are not a faceless organization, but we are working with our lawyer for an extension of time.
He went on to say;
“We are already working with our lawyers to look for an extension of time, but this does not legitimize the charges by the Nigerian police to the Congress leadership, and secondly, we resolve that in the event our Congress President was arrested or detained at any moment, we put our affiliate on red alert to mobilize our membership across the country, that all workers in this country should down tool their services.
This is the resolution because Comrades, this organization belongs to all of us, therefore we should do everything possible to safeguard the safety of this organization. We, therefore, thank you very much, and you should wait for further directives from our leadership.
“Whatever happens, we will communicate your leadership, and your leadership will communicate you. So we urge you to remain calm and go back peacefully to our working place and await further directives.”