Following Joe Ajaero’s arrest in Imo State on Wednesday afternoon, the Nigeria Labour Congress has accused the police of beating him up.
“Contact was made with Congress President, Comrade Joe Ajaero this evening around 1530 hours at the Police Hospital in Owerri from where he was taken to Federal Medical Centre, Owerri where he is receiving medical attention,” said NLC’s Head of Media and Publicity, Benson Upah, in a statement confirming the release of Mr. Ajaero.
However, the Nigerian police had stated that Mr. Ajeoro was brought into custody for his security, despite the NLC’s claims that he was “thoroughly brutalised after his arrest, his (Ajeoro’s) right eye at the time of contact was completely shut.”
Upah reported that Mr. Ajaero’s phones, cash, and other personal belongings were confiscated from him when he was picked up by the police on Wednesday at the NLC secretariat in Owerri, the capital of Imo State, and that they have not been given back to him.
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Mr. Ajaero said that shortly after his arrest, he was blindfolded, beaten, and taken to an undisclosed location where more brutalization took place, occasionally with bottles. Mr. Ajaero was in the state for the NLC’s statewide protest and strike over what the union described as a lack of respect for workers, unpaid salaries and pensions, and other issues.
The Imo State Police Command released a statement stating that Mr. Ajaero was picked up for his protection as word of the occurrence spread and the NLC accused the Police of kidnapping its leader.
“In the course of their planning, it was reported that suggestions arose for the lockdown of some essential facilities particularly the airport which led to some workers and other individuals resisting the picketing process leading to scuffles and heated arguments and an eventual attack on the person of the president by a mob.
“Upon receiving this report, the Imo Police Command swiftly deployed police operatives to the scene where the Officer in Charge exercised his operational discretion by taking the NLC President into protective custody at the State Command Headquarters to ensure the protection of his life and that he was not lynched in the scuffle that followed.
“The Commissioner of Police thereafter directed that he should be taken to the Police Medical Services, Owerri, where he would be accorded medical attention as a result of the attack. He has therefore been accorded adequate security cover to proceed on his other legitimate engagements for the day.”
A National Industrial Court ruling dated October 27, 2023 prohibited the NLC from holding the scheduled rally, the police official added.
