The Imo State Police Command has denied reports suggesting that it arrested President of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero.
Spokesperson for the Imo State Police Command, Okoye Henry, in a statement, denied arresting the union’s president, stating that the union leader was only taken into protective custody.
“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,” statement by the Imo command read.
Okoye explained that “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 and 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,” the statement further read.
The Police comment comes as the labor organization threatened a nationwide strike in response to the arrest of its national president.