The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has accused the Federal Government of interfering in both its affairs and those of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), News About Nigeria reports.
The leaders of the Congress made this accusation while speaking at a press conference in Abuja on Thursday.
They also accused the government of declaring war against the organisation, following the recent raid on its headquarters by security forces.
The Congress leaders, who rejected the police explanation for the invasion and demanded an apology, as well as the return of seized items and the release of detained individuals, criticised government attempts to interfere with the organisation’s internal affairs, including a proposed reduction in the tenure of trade union leaders.
They maintained that this violates labour laws and international conventions.
Recall that the police had claimed that the raid on the headquarters of the NLC was aimed at apprehending an international terrorist suspect.
The NLC, however, dismissed this as a cover-up, pointing out contradictions in the police account.
“The Registrar of Trade Unions, acting on orders from above, wrote a letter of threat to our relationship with the Labour Party, citing Section 15 sub-sections 2, 3, and 4 of the Trade Unions Act.
“In their bid to suppress our voice, they forgot the provisions of Sections 39–40 of the 1999 Constitution as amended, the Supreme Court decision on the right of public servants to hold political views, the provisions of the African Charter on People and Human Rights, as well as ILO Conventions 87 and 98.
“The government is also frantically working to reduce the number of years trade unionists could hold office to two. This constitutes gross interference in the internal running of the trade unions in violation of the corpus of labour law and ILO conventions.
“We want to reiterate that even though we are the owners of barricades, we did not participate in the End-Hunger protest. Government therefore should not rope us into something we knew nothing about. Accordingly, we ask the government to release those in its custody including an 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,” the Congress stated.
