HUMAN rights lawyer, Femi Falana, a senior advocate, has challenged the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, to fish out security operatives who invaded the Secretariat of the Nigeria Labour Congress ((NLC) in Abuja on Wednesday, August 7.
The senior lawyer in a statement he signed on behalf of the Alliance on Surviving Covid-19 and Beyond (ASCAB) on Thursday, August 8, stated that the invasion was designed to silence the leaders of the NLC for having the audacity to criticise the harassment of the #Endbadgovernance protesters by the police and other security agencies.
He described the invasion as a shameful reminder of the armed invasion of the NLC Secretariat on February 28, 1988, following the loss of the post of the president of the congress at the Triennial Delegates Conference of the Congress by the stooge of the former military president, Ibrahim Babangida.
“As if the invasion was not enough, the reactionary forces in power at the material time proceeded to seize the Secretariat and impose a sole administrator to manage the affairs of the Congress for over a year.
“Two years earlier, security operatives had detained NLC leaders, including its president, comrade Ali Chiroma, who died a few months ago,” the lawyer said.
Falana noted that the tactic on that tragic occasion was to forestall a nationwide protest in response to police killings of Ahmadu Bello University students.
According to him, for genuine democrats, it’s regrettable that official actions in a democratic dispensation could be reminiscent of the atrocities that defined the “dark days of military dictatorship.”
“It is incontestable that it is illegal for security forces to invade the homes and offices of law-abiding citizens and corporate bodies under a democratic dispensation. Hence, the State Security Service has denied its involvement in the invasion.”
He added that the denial of involvement by the State Security Service (SSS) in the invasion of the NLC office was not sufficient.
He therefore called on the IG to order an inquiry into the identities of the perpetrators of the invasion and said this should not end as a case of “unknown invaders”.
The ICIR reported that the NLC condemned the invasion of its national headquarters – the Labour House – in Abuja by operatives of the country’s security agencies, including the military.
In a statement by its head of media and public relations, Benson Upah, on Wednesday, August 7, the NLC claimed heavily armed soldiers, police officers and their counterparts from the SSS illegally invaded the Labour House.
The group noted that the security operatives swooped on the 10th Floor, showing no legal document permitting them to invade the premises.
The workers noted that their national executive council (NEC) condemned the high-handed manner that which security agents treated protesters in many parts of the country, resulting in needless bloodshed that ensued and the sweeping mass arrests of those perceived to have led the protest.
The NLC also demanded that all the books and materials carted away by the security operatives should be returned before the end of work on Thursday, August 8, 2024.
The ICIR reported that heads of Nigerian security agencies had vowed to unravel the sponsors of the #EndBadGovernance protest and make them face the wrath of the law.
Insecurity, inflation, and a hike in the cost of living among others under President Bola Tinubu have pushed many Nigerians to stage the nationwide protest tagged #EndBadGovernance.
The protests, which began on Thursday, August 1, have been marred by violence, largely caused by the security operatives in places like Lagos and Abuja, where protesters have been subjected to tear gas and harassment.
A reporter with the ICIR
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