NLC gives federal government up until midnight to release its president Joe Ajaero

TRADE unions have given the federal government up until midnight to release the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) president Joe Ajaero who was recently arrested in Abuja or face the wrath of the country's workers.

Over the weekend, Mr Ajaero was arrested at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja while on his way to the United Kingdom to attend a Trade Union Congress meeting. His arrested has sparked fury among trade union activists with the NLC describing the arrest and detention as an affront to the rights of workers and democratic principles.

Earlier today, the NLC’s national administrative council met and afterwards issued a statement  signed by its deputy president Adeyanju Adewale, calling the arrest and detention brazen and illegal. Mr Adewale called for Mr Ajaero's immediate and unconditional release by 12 midnight tonight.

Among other things, the NLC also called for the reversal of the recent petrol price hike to N617 a litre. In a sure sign that trouble may the looming, the NLC has placed its affiliates, state councils and civil society allies on the red alert, warning that it will not stand by while workers’ rights are trampled upon.

Furthermore, the national administrative council has summoned an emergency meeting of the national executive council to take further action against what it describes as the government’s authoritarianism and lawlessness. Also, the NLC has reaffirmed its commitment to defending workers’ rights and opposing oppression, urging the government to reverse its dangerous trend and to also implement the new national minimum wage.

“The NLC demands the immediate and unconditional release of Comrade Joe Ajaero before 12 midnight today. The council unequivocally condemns the brazen and illegal detention of Comrade Joe Ajaero by the Nigerian state without any legal warrant or justification,” their communiqué read.