NLC President, Joe Ajaero, has recounted his brutalization in Imo State, alleging that police handed him over to suspected thugs for a severe beating.
Speaking at a press conference in Abuja on Friday, Ajaero, with swollen eyes, expressed the unimaginable nature of the assault.
Despite the NLC’s prior notification to security agencies about the protest, he described being tied up and dragged on the floor “like a common criminal.”
Ajaero’s account contradicts the Imo State Police Command’s statement, which claimed his protective custody was to prevent a mob attack. The police asserted that Ajaero was taken into custody due to scuffles during the planning of a protest rally, and he was later provided with security cover for his safety.
His press statement reads, “The Imo State Police Command wishes to clarify some sketchy reports alleging the arrest of the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Comrade Joe Ajaero, in Owerri.
“It is pertinent to state that the NLC President was in Owerri as part of arrangements of the Congress to mobilize workers for a mega protest rally in the state. In the course of their planning, it was reported that suggestions arose for the lockdown of some essential facilities particularly the airport which led to some workers and other individuals resisting the picketing process leading to scuffles heated arguments, and an eventual attack on the person of the president by a mob.
“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.
“The Commissioner of Police thereafter directed that he should be taken to the Police Medical Services, Owerri, where he would be accorded medical attention as a result of the attack. He has therefore been accorded adequate security cover to proceed on his other legitimate engagements for the day.”
