Tension as NLC president Joe Ajaero arrested in Imo

Operatives of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) have allegedly arrested the National President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero in Owerri, the Imo State capital.

The Head of Information, NLC, Benson Upah who made this known said Ajaero was picked up at the state secretariat of the congress on Wednesday and taken to an unknown location.

“President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Comrade Joe Ajaero was picked up a few minutes ago from NLC state council secretariat by heavily armed policemen in Owerri and taken to an unknown destination,” Upah informed PUNCH via a text message.

Recall that the NLC had vowed to mobilise its members for a total strike in Imo state starting Today, November 1, 2023.

Ajaero, during a press briefing on Sunday, had accused the Imo State Government of “violating the rights of the Nigerian workers in the state.”

Accusing the state governor Hope Uzodimma of neglecting workers’ welfare, Ajaero lamented that many of them have died because of the alleged lack of payment of their salaries.

He outlined some of the infractions against workers by Uzodimma, including the alleged refusal to implement previous agreements especially the accord reached on January 9, 2021, outstanding salary arrears of about 20 months, unjust declaration of workers as ghost workers, declaration of pensioners as ghost workers and unsettled gratuity arrears, among others.

According to him, approximately 10,000 pensioners have been wrongly labelled as ghost pensioners resulting in over 22 months of unpaid pensions while about 11,000 workers have been branded by the Imo State Government as ghost workers.

The NLC president also lamented the non-compliance with the national minimum wage by the state government, adding that Governor Uzodinma has resisted the use of social dialogue and collective bargaining to resolve the issues