Joe Ajaero, the president of the Nigeria Labour Congress, has been granted administrative bail by the Department of State Services.
A few minutes before the organized labor’s midnight ultimatum, he was set free.
Omoyele Sowore, the African Action Congress presidential candidate and pro-democracy campaigner, tweeted on Monday night that he was free.
“BREAKING: The fascist regime of @officialABAT has released the @NLCHeadquarters President Joe Ajaero from @OfficialDSSNG custody on bail,” he wrote on X.com.
Following the Department of State Services’ raid on the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project’s Abuja office and the arrest of Joe Ajaero, the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, the Peoples Democratic Party, the New Nigeria Peoples Party, and the Social Democratic Party criticized President Bola Tinubu’s administration on Monday.
Ajaero was detained on Monday morning while traveling to the United Kingdom for a formal assignment at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja.
The president of the NLC was scheduled to attend today’s opening of the Trade Union Congress convention in London.
Additionally, the SERAP office in Abuja was raided by the DSS.
According to reports, the cops wanted to talk to the directors of the rights organization.
The NLC met behind closed doors with stakeholders in Abuja on Monday in response to the detention of its president. At the meeting, the NLC demanded Ajaero’s immediate release and gave instructions to all chapters to get ready for a possible statewide strike.
Adeyanju Adewale, the deputy president of the NLC, released a statement following the council meeting in which he called the detention “brazen and illegal” and a “affront to the rights of workers and democratic principles.”
In addition to demanding Ajaero’s release by Monday at midnight, the council urged that the recent increase in gas prices to N617 per liter be reversed.
The NLC said that it had sent a red alert to state councils, affiliates, and friends in civil society, announcing that it will not tolerate violations of workers’ rights.
Congress called on the government to buck the “dangerous trend” and enact the new National Minimum Wage, reiterating its commitment to upholding workers’ rights and against oppression.
The statement said as follows: “To address the concerning and illegal arrest and detention of Comrade Joe Ajaero, President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, by agents of the Nigerian Government, the National Administrative Council of the Nigeria Labour Congress called an emergency meeting today.
While traveling to the United Kingdom, where he was supposed to speak at the Congress of the Trade Union Congress of Britain and represent Nigerian workers in important debates on social justice and workers’ rights, Comrade Ajaero was apprehended and held at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja.
“After extensive deliberation, the NAC resolved as follows: The Council unequivocally condemns the brazen and illegal detention of Comrade Joe Ajaero by the Nigerian state without any legal warrant or justification. The NLC notes with grave concern that Comrade Ajaero was lawfully discharging his duties to represent Nigerian workers and had not committed any offense warranting such action.
“His detention is an affront to the rights of workers and the democratic principles of freedom of movement and expression.
“The NLC demands the immediate and unconditional release of Comrade Joe Ajaero before 12 midnight today. The Council reiterates that Joe Ajaero is not a fugitive or a criminal, and his detention is an act of intimidation aimed at silencing dissent and stifling the labour movement’s voice in Nigeria. NAC also demands the immediate reversal of the current hike in the price of petrol to N617/litre.
“The congress places all its affiliates, state councils, civil society allies, and the Nigerian populace on red alert. The detention of Comrade Ajaero is an attack not just on the NLC leadership but on the rights of all workers and citizens to organize, protest, and express themselves freely. The NLC will not stand by while these rights are trampled upon. This provocation is another attempt by the State to scuttle the implementation of the new National Minimum Wage.”
Ajaero was taken by state officials without a formal warrant or documents, according to Benson Upah, Head of Public Relations for the NLC, who made this statement earlier. He also added that it was unclear where Ajaero was taken to and his present health.
In response to the event, PDP National Publicity Secretary Debo Ologunagba cautioned that Nigeria has now descended into a totalitarian state governed by President Tinubu.
Ologunagba asked the federal government to stop focusing on people who disagreed with their policies and instead address the root causes of problems like hunger.
“Caution is necessary,” he said. This nation saw a demonstration, but the government took no action. You make an arrest, accuse someone of being a terrorist, and file charges against them. You assert that a few people are the protest’s sponsors.
“We know who sponsored the protest: it is hunger. The President and his administration should address hunger, and there will be no problem. Let your draconian policies that bring people to their knees be re-evaluated. With school resuming, we understand the struggles of those with pupils in school.
“You wake up one morning unable to plan because the government is so insensitive and irresponsible, implementing policies that destroy people’s plans and their pursuit of happiness without consulting the National Assembly.
“Why does the government exist? For the welfare and security of the people. Currently, there is no welfare or security. This is breaking news. We need to see and understand what is happening. The government should address the country’s welfare challenges to prevent protests.”
The PDP publicity secretary voiced his displeasure with President Tinubu for prioritizing his comfort over all else.
No one really minds who the president is as long as the government gives us the chance to achieve our dreams, Ologunagba continued. We will look into this breaking news as a party and take appropriate action. It makes sense to reexamine these policies if the government is concerned with welfare and the public is suffering.
“You must show leadership by saying, ‘Okay, you are telling me to tighten my belt while you are buying a new belt.’ This is a country that cannot pay N70,000 minimum wage but can purchase a N150 billion plane. The President seems to be testing it, flying everywhere. This is a country where N21bn was spent to renovate the Vice President’s house, yet according to them, there is no money.”
The PDP Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Ibrahim Abdullahi, remarked that Tinubu’s administration was sliding into ‘’a hotbed of corruption and tyranny.’’
He stated, “Tinubu’s administration is not sliding into authoritarianism, we are already in a full-blown dictatorship.
“The APC and indeed the Tinubu-led government have finally degenerated into a cesspool of corrupt and tyrannical monsters. The contraption is no longer pretentious about its anti-democratic posture, a development we are not surprised about because of the background and disposition of the elements.”
The National Publicity Secretary of NNPP, Ladipo Johnson, described Ajaero’s arrest as shocking.
Johnson, however, disclosed that the Tinubu administration must urgently explain why the Labour leader was whisked away to douse the tension.
