Our reporter/ The President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, Comrade Joe Ajaero was on Wednesday rushed to the Federal Medical Centre, FMC, Owerri with his right eye completely shut after his arrest and brutalisation by members of the Nigeria Police.
In a statement on Wednesday, the Head of Media at the NLC Headquarters, Benson Uper, said the union’s President has been released by the police.
He, however, noted that Ajaero is hospitalised, alleging that he was severely beaten after being arrested by operatives of the Imo State Police Command.
According to him, “contact has been made with Congress President, Comrade Joe Ajaero this evening around 15:30 hours at the Police Hospital in Owerri from where he was taken to Federal Medical Centre, Owerri where he is receiving medical attention.
“Immediately after his arrest, he was beaten up and blindfolded and taken to an unknown destination where more brutalisation took place, sometimes with bottles,” the statement read.
“Contact was made with Congress President, Comrade Joe Ajaero this evening around 1530 hours at the Police Hospital in Owerri from where he was taken to Federal Medical Centre, Owerri where he is receiving medical attention.
“Thoroughly brutalized, his right eye at the time of contact was completely shut. His phones, money and other personal effects were taken off him and have not been returned to him.”
Meanwhile, the Imo State Police Command denied arresting the NLC President.
Police Public Relations Officer, Okoye Henry, said contrary to reports, Ajaero was placed in protective custody.
“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,” the police said.
“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 police spokesman also said there is an order from the National Industrial Court in Owerri barring the NLC from holding the intended protest rally in the state.
Specifically, the Commissioner of Police, Mohammed Ahmed Barde, urged all concerned parties to ensure compliance with the court directives so as to avoid jeopardising the current security arrangements on Owerri and other parts of Imo ahead of the November 11 governorship election in the state.
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