Armed police arrest Ajaero in Imo

Heavily armed policemen have arrested the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero, in Owerri, the Imo State capital.

Ajaero was picked up from the NLC State Council Secretariat on Wednesday while leading a statewide protest and strike in Owerri over what NLC called lack of respect for workers, unpaid salaries and pensions, amongst others.

The Head of Media at the NLC Headquarters, Benson Uper, stated this via a WhatsApp message.

Indications are that the labour leader was arrested at the secretariat of the NLC in Imo while he was getting set to lead an ‘Occupy Imo’ protest slated for today.

The police were said to have given reasons that he disobeyed an existing court order by the National Industrial Court restraining the NLC and the Trades Union Congress (TUC) from carrying out any protest in the state.

The police spokesperson in Imo State, Henry Okoye, said there was no information on the arrest of the labour leader yet.

He, however, said he will make the information available as soon as he gets a clear picture of the situation.

The NLC leadership in Imo State has dissociated itself from the protest with reasons that the allegations by the NLC national leadership against the state government were untrue.

In a statement on Wednesday, NLC and TUC national leaderships in Abuja accused the Imo State Government of intimidation against trade unions in the state.