Imo state Governor, Hope Uzodinma is insisting that workers in the state’s civil service are not being owed salaries.
The governor who has been re-elected into office stated this when he played host to the Imo Council of Elders.
He also apologized for the treatment the NLC President; Joe Ajaero got when he visited the state but maintained that the state government will never be intimated by the blackmails of the union.
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Medical professionals at the Federal University Teaching Hospital in Owerri are currently engaged in a challenging effort to preserve the eyesight of Joe Ajaero, the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress. Ajaero's ordeal began when he was reportedly apprehended by officers from the Imo State Police Command while leading a protest in the state last Wednesday.
READ ASLO: NLC President Arrested In Imo
In contrast, the police command maintains that they were acting to rescue Ajaero from a potentially dangerous mob, subsequently placing him in protective custody. Ajaero's harrowing journey to the Federal Medical Centre in Owerri was captured in a viral video, wherein he was seen seated between two individuals. In the video, the NLC leader indicated that he did not have a phone with him but expressed hope that a family member employed at FUTHO could assist.
Concurrently, officials from the Nigeria Labour Congress strongly condemned the incident, characterising it as a reprehensible attempted murder. Benson Upah, the NLC's Head of Information and Publicity, labelled Ajaero's treatment as a case of abduction that had escalated into an attempted murder.
Upah disclosed, "Contact was established with Congress President Joe Ajaero this evening around 15:30 hours at the Police Hospital in Owerri, where he was subsequently transferred to the Federal Medical Centre in Owerri for medical care. He had been severely brutalised, with his right eye completely swollen shut at the time of contact."
In a dramatic turn of events, Comrade Joe Ajaero, the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), was apprehended by the police in Owerri, the capital of Imo State. Ajaero's detention came in the wake of an ongoing protest organised by NLC members in the state.
Reports indicate that the protest was marred by the infiltration of troublemakers who vandalised vehicles and inflicted injuries upon members of the labour union. The NLC had announced its intention to stage a protest in the state on Sunday, citing alleged violations and abuses of the rights and privileges of workers by the state government.
According to sources, Ajaero's arrest occurred as early as 8 a.m. on Wednesday. Workers had gathered at the NLC State Secretariat for the protest when a group of armed individuals stormed the premises, attacked the workers, and dispersed the crowd.
Nevertheless, the workers regrouped at the Secretariat, this time under the leadership of NLC President Ajaero and General Secretary Emma Ugboaja, to proceed with the protest. Just as Ajaero was about to address the assembled crowd, a team of heavily armed police officers arrived and took him into custody, along with some other NLC officials.
During the incident, reports suggest that several gunshots were fired to disperse the gathered workers, heightening tensions.
Benson Upah, the NLC's Head of Information and Publicity, confirmed the situation, explaining, "The NLC President was abducted by heavily armed men, suspected to be police officers, at the Imo State NLC secretariat on Wednesday, just as we were about to commence our lawful protest against the violation of trade union rights of the workers."
Providing further insight into the incident, Chris Onyeka, the NLC Deputy General Secretary and Chief of Staff to the NLC President, recounted the events. "As workers were gathering to protest their mistreatment by the state government in Owerri, Imo State, and the NLC President was about to address the workers, the police intervened amid attacks by thugs to arrest Ajaero. Thugs initially attacked and forcibly removed Ajaero from the platform before the police arrived to arrest him and another senior NLC official," he said.
The situation surrounding Joe Ajaero's detention highlights the growing tensions and challenges faced by labour unions and workers in Nigeria, further emphasising the importance of peaceful and lawful protest in addressing workers' rights and grievances.
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has threatened to boycott today’s meeting with the Federal Government if the Minister of Labour and Productivity, Simon Lalong, will attend.
The NLC President, Joe Ajaero, issued the threat while fielding questions from journalists at a briefing on the plights of workers in Imo State.
Labour unions and the government have been in negotiations over their planned industrial action owing to the removal of fuel subsidy.
But Ajaero criticized Lalong for not being able to establish a cordial relationship with the organized labour.
The labour leader also accused the Imo State Government of violating the workers' rights in the state and threatened to mobilize its members to storm the state on Wednesday, the first of November.
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