President of Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, Joe Ajaero, has been referred for ophthalmic investigation, a head/brain scan, a full body scan, and cervical spine therapy among other investigations.
Ajaero was rushed to the Federal Medical Centre, FMC, Owerri with his right eye ‘completely shut,’ after he was attacked in Imo state on Wednesday, November , 2023.
The NLC Head of Information and Publicity, Comrade Benson Upah, described what happened to Ajaero as an act of abduction that degenerated into attempted murder.
Ajaero is presently on a neck collar with weals all over his skin.
Ajaero, who was in Owerri to mobilise workers for a mega protest rally in the state, was assaulted, battered and taken away by armed security personnel.
He was later released, after he was badly beaten.
But the police in the statement in a statement said Ajaero was never arrested, but taken into protestive custody.
State Police Public Relations Officer, Okoye Henry, in a statement, on Wednesday, said:
“The Imo State Police Command wishes to clarify some sketchy reports alleging the arrest of the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Joe Ajaero, in Owerri.
“It is pertinent to state that the NLC President was in Owerri as part of arrangements of the congress to mobilise 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 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.
“It is, however, necessary to emphasize the existence of a court injunction from the National Industrial Court of Nigeria holden in Owerri with Suit No. NICN/OW/41/2023 dated October 27, 2023, barring the NLC from holding the intended protest rally in Owerri.
“The Commissioner of Police, Imo State Police Command, Mr. Mohammed Barde, therefore, urges all concerned parties to ensure compliance with the court directives so as to avoid jeopardizing the current security arrangements on Owerri and other parts of Imo State, even as the State gears up for the forthcoming electioneering process on November 11, 2023.”
