‘Even military didn’t raid our offices’ - NLC knocks FG after police officers raided their headquarters in search of protesters

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has criticized the federal government following the police raid on its Abuja offices due to claims that organized labor members were behind the #EndBadGovernance demonstration.

According to DailyTrust, a few labor leaders claimed that when the "masked security agents" broke into the building and searched the office, the NLC's top leadership had already left.

Comrade Benson Upah, Head of the NLC's Media and Public Relations, responded by denouncing the act in a statement. 

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Ujah said the invasion occurred hours after the National Executive Council of the NLC took note and condemned the high-handed manner that security agents manhandled protesters in many parts of the country “and the needless bloodshed that ensued”.

“We also condemned the sweeping mass arrests of those perceived to have led the protest. The NEC also frowned at the reckless use of ‘treason’ to describe the protest and demanded for moderation. What we did not see coming was the invasion of the Labour House by masked and heavily armed security operatives hours later.”

 

In the light of the foregoing and the ominous sign it portends for democratic rights, freedom of speech and association, and the unimpeachable right of citizens to protest peacefully on any issue they feel strongly about, we call on the international community to take note of the deterioration of democratic principles in the bid to turn Nigeria into a Police State. Given the experience of the leadership of the NLC in recent times at the receiving end of the naked brute force of the state especially the near daylight assassination of the NLC President by security operatives and thugs, our fears of a Nigerian state that is descending into enforced brutality are well founded. We fear that the situation might deteriorate.

 

Given the state of things, the Nigeria Labour Congress has directed all its staff to stay away from the Labour House for now until we are certain that there are no incriminating materials or harmful substances dropped in our offices by the invading operatives. In order to allay our fears, we demand an international inquiry into this very traumatic invasion.

 

Finally, we demand the immediate withdrawal of the troops of invading security agents from the premises of the Labour House, Abuja. We also demand that all the books and materials carted away by the invading security operatives should be returned unfailingly to where they were taken from before the end of work tomorrow, 8th August 2024. We make this demand given the illegality of the operation as there was no court order for the invasion, ransacking and looting of the publications.”

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Credit: LIB