THE presidency has stated that the president of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero was arrested and prevented from travelling outside the country after he snubbed an invitation from a law enforcement agency.
Ajaero’s lawyer has however stated that the labour leader did not ignore the invitation.
The presidency was reacting to the outrage that followed the arrest of Ajaero on Monday, September 9 by operatives of the State Security Service (SSS).
In a statement tagged, “State House Press Statement Nigeria, a country governed by law, categorically denies any human rights abuse” released on Tuesday, September 10, evening by a presidential spokesperson Bayo Onanuga, the government denied any human rights abuse.
According to the government, the Trade Union Congress in the United Kingdom opened its conference in London on September 10, with its leader making false claims about human rights abuses and violations in Nigeria.
The presidency claimed the Nigerian government was wrongly and falsely accused of rights abuse because the NLC President, Ajaero, was stopped from travelling abroad after he snubbed the invitation of a law enforcement agency conducting an ongoing investigation.
The government said Ajaero, who probably considers himself “above the law”, was slated to speak at the same conference where the United Kingdom TUC leader attacked Nigeria.
“His actions, however, have serious consequences, as no one is above the law in Nigeria. Clearly, under the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (As Amended), no person is above the summons of law enforcement agencies and lawful investigation.
Ajeero’s lawyer Maxwell Opara has earlier stated that the labour leader had informed the State Security Service (SSS) about his trip to United Kingdom for an official engagement.
Opara said Ajaero didn’t snub the SSS invitation he had asked for another date. He said the SSS had invited the labour leader a few days to the event via a telephone call but that he told them that he would honour the invitation on Monday 16 September upon his return from the UK to Nigeria.
The statement also states that the government “rejects any notion and allusion to human rights violations in Nigeria and claimed the accusations made by the Trade Union Congress in the United Kingdom are “unfounded and based on a misunderstanding of the situation.”
“There is no adversarial relationship between the Labour Movement in Nigeria and the government. While labour unions and the government may not always agree on policy direction, the government has consistently shown readiness to engage on any issue with labour despite the latter’s political partisanship,” the government added.
It went further to state that contrary to the impression being created, the invitation extended by the SSS to Ajaero has nothing to do with his role as the President of NLC.
It added that as a responsible citizen of Nigeria, Ajaero should honour any invitation from our security agencies and resolve any issues that may arise during the investigation instead of stirring adverse public opinion against the security agencies.
The ICIR reported on Monday that Ajaero was arrested by operatives of the SSS, he was later released hours after he was arrested.
Ajaero was released on bail late on the night of Monday, September 9, but his passport was seized.
This came after the NLC demanded his unconditional release before midnight.
A reporter with the ICIR
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