The President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero, has been arrested by operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS). The NLC president was arrested on Monday morning at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, on his way to the United Kingdom for an official assignment.
Ajaero was billed to attend the Trade Union Congress conference in London, which begins today. Confirming the development, the NLC, in a short statement via its X account, said following his arrest by DSS operatives, Ajaero was subsequently moved to the office of the National Security Adviser (NSA).
“The assault on Nigerian workers continues, the President of the NLC, Comrade Joe Ajaero was arrested and abducted by the men of DSS at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport Abuja this morning on his way to attend an official engagement of the TUC United Kingdom and he is now detained at the office of the NSA,” the brief statement on NLC’s X handle read.
The NLC president has been in a running episode with security operatives recently. Ajaero was recently summoned and interrogated by the Intelligence Response Team (IRT) of the Nigerian Police Force over allegations of criminal conspiracy, terrorism financing, treasonable felony, subversion, and cybercrime.
Ajaero honoured the Police invitation on August 29, accompanied by his lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN). Hours after the session, and despite denial of any wrongdoing, the Police again issued another summon for Ajaero, asking him to appear alongside the NLC General Secretary, Emma Ugboaja, on September 5.
It was, however, reported that he couldn’t honour the September 5 invitation, and a new date of September 25 has been fixed. The police are alleging a link between the labour leader and a Briton, Andrew Wynne, who has been accused of financing the recent #EndBadGovernance or #Hunger protest in the country to allegedly overthrow the government of President Bola Tinubu.
