The Nigeria Labour Congress has accused the government of declaring war against the union, following the recent raid on its headquarters by security forces.
At a press conference in Abuja on Thursday, NLC leaders 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.
The NLC also criticised the government’s attempts to interfere with the union’s internal affairs, including a proposed reduction in the tenure of trade union leaders.
They argued that this violated labour laws and international conventions.
Security agents had, on July 7, conducted a night raid on the NLC national secretariat in Abuja.
According to the NLC spokesperson, Benson Upah, the operatives burst into the building at about 8.30 pm and arrested the security guards, forcing them to hand over keys to the offices on the second floor.
Upah said, “The security operatives, some from the Nigeria Police Force, some wearing black tee-shirts, presumably from the Department of State Services, and others on outright mufti, swooped on the 10th Floor of the NLC and arrested the security operative on duty and then commandeered him to the second floor where he was asked to produce the keys to the offices.
When he told them that he had no such keys on him, they broke into the floor and ransacked the bookshop on the second floor, carting away hundreds of books and other publications. The invading troops claimed that they were looking for seditious materials used for the #EndBadGoveranance protests.”
While the DSS, through its spokesman, Peter Afunanya, denied involvement in the raid, the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, confirmed that the raid was carried out by the police, saying a terrorist involved in Sudanese crisis was traced to the labour building.
“One of them was traced to the Labour House the other day. I was just wondering why the noise about the raid of the Labour House when the police did not raid the Labour House.
We raided the shop where the individual was using as a front. We have been monitoring his activities, he was very active in the Sudan crisis, and he is in Nigeria mobilising people to destabilise our country,” Egbetokun said.
But at the press conference on Thursday, labour leaders rejected the explanation by the police, insisting that the raid was illegal.
“We want to reiterate that even though we are the owners of barricades, we did not participate in the #Endhunger protest.
The government, therefore, should not rope us into something we 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,” the NLC said.
While linking the raid to the tussle between the NLC and the Labour Party, the union warned that any attempt by the government to meddle in its internal affairs was illegal and would be resisted.
“The Registrar of Trade Unions, acting on orders from above wrote a letter of threat on our relationship with the Labour Party, citing Section 15 (2) (3) (4) of the Trade Unions Act.
“In their bid to suppress our voice, they forgot the provisions of sections 39 to 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 to two the number of years trade unionists could hold office. This constitutes a gross interference in the internal running of the trade unions in violation of the corpus of Labour Law and ILO Conventions.”
