The United Action Front of Civil Society has condemned the arrest of Nigeria Labour Congress President, Comrade Joe Ajaero, by the Department of State Services.
Ajaero was arrested by DSS in the early hours of Monday at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja when he was about to board a flight to the United Kingdom to attend the Trade Union Congress (TUC) conference.
The civil society group described the arrest as a “needless show of force” and an attempt to cause national anarchy.
In a statement issued by the group and signed by the Head of Secretariat, Hamisu Santuraki, they called for the immediate release of Ajaero, warning that his detention could lead to mass resistance and civil disobedience.
The statement read, “We wish to state that the DSS has, without reason, broken the civil and conventional practice earlier adopted by the police in security matters concerning well-known high-profile citizens and leaders of the people, like the President of the NLC. Instead of extending invitations to such individuals, they have resorted to dehumanising tactics such as forceful abduction to embarrass and intimidate them like common criminals.
“As a matter of fact, Comrade Joe Ajaero is a significant leader of both the Labour movement and the masses of Nigeria, given his popular position as the President of the NLC, and therefore deserves to be treated with profound decorum and courtesy. Consequently, any security issues involving him should be handled with due process and not with the Gestapo tactics displayed by security agents today, which threaten to cause national chaos.
“For us in the organised civil society and pro-democracy movement of Nigeria, the abduction of Ajaero today is brash and indecent on the part of Nigerian security operatives and should be condemned by all Nigerians. We, therefore, wish to unequivocally condemn this needless act of rascality employed by the DSS against the President of the NLC, which has already sent shockwaves through the length and breadth of the country and may lead to mass resistance and civil disobedience if Ajaero is not immediately released by the State.”
