NLC President Joe Ajaero Arrested In Imo

NLC president Joe Ajaero has been arrested in Owerri.

Glamtush reports that the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero, has been arrested in Owerri, the Imo State capital.

This online news platform understands that heavily armed policemen, on Wednesday, arrested Ajaero.

The Head of Information, NLC, Benson Upah, who spoke to The Punch, noted that Ajaero was picked up at the state secretariat of the congress 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 our correspondent via a text message.

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

According to a source, the labour leader was arrested at the secretariat of the NLC in Imo while he was about to lead an ‘Occupy Imo’ protest slated for today.

The source said the police arrested Ajaero giving reasons that the labour leader has disobeyed an existing court order by the National Industrial Court restraining the NLC and the Trades Union Congress (TUC) from carrying out any protest in the state.

When contacted, the police spokesperson in Imo, Henry Okoye, said he has no information on the arrest of the labour leader yet, saying that he will make the information available as soon as he gets a clear picture of the situation.

Meanwhile, the NLC leadership in Imo has dissociated itself from the protest with reasons that the allegations by the NLC national leadership against the state government were untrue.

In a statement on Wednesday, NLC and TUC national leaderships in Abu7ha accused the Imo State Government of intimidation against trade unions in the state.

Read full statement: