According to Upah, the government is frantically working to reduce to two the number of years trade unionists could hold office.
The leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress has reacted to an explanation from the police why it raided its Headquarters.
According to the NLC, the explanation given by the Police Spokesperson, ACP Olumumuyiwa Adejobi that their intent was to uncover and arrest a terrorist hibernating in the NLC building does not hold water, adding that it was just an attempt to save face and hide their blunders.
Benson Upah, Head of Information and Public Affairs of NLC also alleged that the Federal Government was trying to meddle in union’s activities by mulling a two-year maximum tenure for union leaders.
According to Upah, the government is frantically working to reduce to two the number of years trade unionists could hold office.
He cautioned that it constitutes a gross interference in the internal running of the trade unions in violation of the corpus of Labour Law and ILO Conventions.
While addressing a press conference on Thursday in Abuja to give a further update on its office invasion, Upah said besides the government’s dishonourable silence on our patriotic and well-thought-out demands, the police have since come out to make further comments on the raid instead of an apology.
Reacting to the claims by Adejobi, NLC said, “a statement signed by ACP Olumumuyiwa Adejobi claims that the raid had “no connection with the NLC secretariat, staff, or leadership….but a prime criminal suspect in an ongoing investigation ….traced to a shop within the building” which they claimed was on the 2nd floor.
“The police in subsequent media interviews said the suspect is “an international terrorist” with a long history of destabilization of nations including Sudan. The police made other wild and unsubstantiated claims.
“We find the claims contradictory, self-serving and face-saving and intended to cover up their blunders.
“What were the security personnel doing on the 10th floor when the shop they were after was on the 2nd floor?
They said they were after this “international crook of foreign descent” and yet came hours after offices had closed.
“Between the materials they took away and the terrorist, which had more value?
“If the police truly had credible intelligence and if Congress was not their target, what was wrong in taking the leadership of Congress into confidence? And if they felt that would jeopardise the operation, couldn’t they have confided in the leadership at H-hour?
“The police now claim they had necessary legal documents for the raid. We challenge the police to tender those court documents. We pray they are not contrived or procured documents after the act of invasion.
“On the so-called “international terrorist”, for how long did they know of his or her existence? Shouldn’t we Nigerians hold the security personnel accountable for letting the suspect operate with carefree abandon?
“And if they just knew about this “dangerous terrorist”, wouldn’t this constitute a major intelligence failure on the part of the police?
“The police and government should stop playing on our intellect. They should also stop diverting attention from the real issues that still stare us in the face ….economic policies that continue to unleash hardship on the people.
“Given these realities, we still advise the government to dialogue not only with leaders of the protest but honest Nigerians on the way forward instead of extorting endorsements or votes of confidence from people who are insulated from these hardships.
“We demand that the government put an end to this hybrid war against Congress. However, if the government feels two years is the best tenure to go, it should be two years for everyone including the President of the country.
“We advise the government to stop meddling in the affairs of the Labour Party even as its destabilization campaign against opposition parties has reached a crescendo. Our actions are guided by the decision of a competent court of jurisdiction.
“The insincerity of government is so manifest. They claimed they were selling bags of rice at 40k and had to stop when the rice was being resold at 80k. Up till this moment, no one has been able to tell us where rice was sold at 40k.
“We continue to demand an apology from the police and federal government for the unlawful raid of our headquarters.
“We are not aware of any terrorist in our midst. However, if the government knows of one it should come out with facts and proof it is sure of instead of making the country the butt of jokes in the international circuit.
“We challenge the police to show proof of our relationship (landlord-tenant or otherwise) with this alleged terrorist.
“The police claimed our security staff made statements to them. This is another falsehood. On the contrary, it was the police that signed a document at the main gate before they were allowed in”.
Upah reiterated that even though we are the owners of barricades, we did not participate in the End-Hunger protest.
He advised the government to desist from roping Labour into something they knew nothing about.
“Accordingly we ask the government to release those in its custody including a NUEE executive (Comrade Opalua Eleojo) who was arrested at a social spot in Abuja.
“We advise the government to stop further acts of intimidation against the Nigeria Labour Congress and indeed against the generality of Nigerians.
“Although we have to the best of our ability done a forensic audit of our premises, we will hold the Nigeria Police Force responsible for any incident at our headquarters or to any of leaders or members anywhere any time,” the NLC Spokesman noted.