The President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero, has revealed the details of his recent arrest and detention by operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) and other security agencies.
Ajaero was arrested at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja while on his way to the United Kingdom to attend the Trade Union Congress conference in London.
In an interview, Ajaero described his experience as a “troubling episode” and stated that the DSS had returned his phones and international passport. He revealed that he was interrogated by both DSS and Intelligence Response Team (IRT) operatives, who asked him about his involvement with the Labour Party and his relationship with protesters, particularly Eleojo Opaluwa, a staff member of the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE).
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Ajaero quoted the operatives as asking, “They asked about the operator of Iva Valley Bookshop on the second floor of the NLC secretariat building. They asked me whether we had communicated on phone, whether he (the Iva Valley operator) communicated with me in writing, and so on.”
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He continued, “They also asked if I know the protesters (#EndBadGovernance or #EndHunger), especially Eleojo Opaluwa, a staff of the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE). I told them I knew him because I employed him at NUEE.”
Ajaero expressed frustration over what he perceives as a pattern of harassment, stating, “It is like the security agents are searching for evidence on how and what to nail us with. That is why they have continued to embarrass, persecute, intimidate, and do whatever they liked to cow us.”
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