Two labour centres – Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC), have demanded the removal of Imo Sate Police Commissioner, Mohammed Barde from his seat for looking away while police and thugs brutalised Comrade Joe Ajaero last Wednesday.
They claim that it took the intervention of the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, to secure his release.
They alleged that Barde is a hatchet man of the Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodimma. Calls by civil society organisations for his removal from Imo, over alleged human rights abuses by policemen under his watch, have fallen on deaf ears.
But labour leaders said beginning Wednesday, November 8, they could no longer guarantee industrial harmony in Nigeria if their demands are not met.
In a joint press conference by the two Labour Centres, they also demanded the arrest of the policemen who joined thugs in brutalising Ajaero. In addition, the labour leaders also demanded the arrest of one Chinasa Nwaneri, an aide of Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State who allegedly brought the thugs that attacked Ajaero.
NLC Deputy President, Adeniyi Adeyanju, said the two labour centres would hold an emergency meeting to deliberate on the next line of action in response to the unconscionable attack on Ajaero.
Adeyanju said while it is the right of workers to protest as guaranteed by the Constitution, they regretted that in Imo State where all forms of democracy have collapsed, protest is being criminalised. They vowed never to allow that stand.
They revealed that after Ajaero’s arrest, it took the intervention of the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, to secure his release.
