By Kamsi Anayo John Ugo, Awka
The Imo State Police Command has arrested the President of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Joe Ajaero.
Comrade Ajaero was whisked away on Wednesday by the Police during the ongoing protest in the state.
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 said.
His arrest came as hoodlums descended on protesters, smashing vehicles and inflicting wounds on labour members.
The development stirred anxiety as the whereabout of the NLC President remain unknown as at he time of this repot as heavily armed security personnel took him away
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.
Investigations shows that Ajaero announced the commencement of the protest at the end of the Central Working Committee (CWC) meeting held in the late hours of Tuesday, October 31, 2023, in Owerri, the state capital.
The NLC president was said to have accused the Imo State Governor, Senator Hope Uzodimma, of violating and neglecting workers’ welfare.
He alleged that due to the hostile actions of the governor towards workers in the state, many of them have died because of the lack of payment of their salaries.
Ajaero lamented the non-compliance with the national minimum wage by the state government while accusing Uzodimma of refusing to implement previous agreements, especially the accord reached on January 9, 2021.
The state is expected to hold governorship election on November 11th 2023.
The state is currently being ravaged by spate of insecurity following activities of terrorists.