By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Heavily armed officers of the Nigeria Police Force have whisked away the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), to an unknown destination during a protest in Owerri, the Imo State capital, NLC Head of Media, Benson Uper has announced.
Joe Ajaero was picked up from the NLC State Council Secretariat on Wednesday.
The NLC is leading a statewide protest and strike in Owerri over what it described as lack of respect for workers, unpaid salaries and pensions, amongst others.
Ajaero was arrested at the secretariat of the NLC in Imo while he was about to lead an ‘Occupy Imo’ protest slated for Wednesday, our source revealed.
It says the police accused the NLC leader of disobeying an existing court order by the National Industrial Court, which restrained the NLC and the Trades Union Congress (TUC) from carrying out any protest in the state.
The Imo State Command police spokesman, Henry Okoye, said he has no information on the arrest of the labour leader yet, saying that he will make the information available as soon as he gets a clear picture of the situation.
The NLC leadership in Imo State had equally dissociated itself from the protest, saying the allegations by the NLC national leadership against the state government were untrue.
