The Imo State Police Command has debunked claims that it arrested Joe Ajaero, the President of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC).
Debunking the claim in a statement on Wednesday, the spokesperson of the Imo State Police Command, Okoye Henry, explained that the union’s leader was not arrested but rather taken into protective custody.
Mr Henry explained in the statement that the police had to take Mr Ajaero into protective custody after reports of plans to attack the union’s president.
“Upon receiving this report, the Imo Police Command swiftly deployed police operatives to the scene where the Officer in Charge exercised his operational discretion by taking the NLC President into protective custody at the State Command Headquarters to ensure the protection of his life and that he was not lynched in the scuffle that followed,” a statement by the Imo State Police Command read.
The police further argued that the National Industrial Court had earlier issued an injunction barring the labour union from going ahead with its planned demonstration in the state.
The police comment comes just as Amnesty International condemned the arrest of the union’s president.
News About Nigeria had earlier reported that rights organization Amnesty International warned that it is illegal to arrest Joe Ajaero, the President of the Nigerian Labour Congress.
Condemning the labour leader’s arrest in a tweet via its official Twitter handle, the rights organisation argued that the arrest was unlawful, adding that it signalled the authorities’ intolerance for freedom of association.
Joe Ajaero alleged that workers who gathered peacefully to conduct the state delegates’ conference of the NLC were attacked by sponsored thugs in conjunction with security agencies.
