The National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, announced on Wednesday that an investigation has been initiated into the assault on the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero.
Ribadu mentioned that some suspects connected to the incident in Owerri on November 1, 2023, have been apprehended.
Labour embarked on nationwide strike on Tuesday to seek justice over an assault on Ajaero who was attacked when he was about to lead a protest against alleged anti-labour practices by the Governor Hope Uzodimma-led administration.
Following the incident and shortly before the November 11, 2023 governorship poll in Imo State, Inspector General of Police (IGP) Kayode Egbetokun redeployed Mohammed Barde, then Commissioner of Police in the state during the incident, and initiated an investigation into the assault on NLC leader Joe Ajaero.
However, Trade Union Congress (TUC) President Festus Osifo expressed a lack of confidence in the IGP’s probe and urged the National Security Adviser (NSA) to take charge of the investigation.
“The office of the NSA should lead this investigation; it should not even be the Inspector General of Police because in this particular subject, we also feel that the IGP is compromised,” Osifo said.
Reacting about two hours after Osifo spoke on our breakfast show, the NSA said his office is concerned over the matter.
In a statement signed by the Head of Strategic Communication in the NSA Office, Zakari Mijinyawa, Ribadu “regrets the incident” on Ajaero and “condemns it in its entirety as it was against the rule of law and the principles of freedom of association and expression subscribed to by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his administration”.
The NSA said the Federal Government will never condone such an act.
“As a fallout of the incident relevant authorities were directed to conduct thorough investigation into the circumstances sorrounding the assault and bring to book the culprits. Available update indicates that some arrests have already been made in this regard. The outcome of the investigation will be made public as soon as it is concluded,” the statement partly read.
“The Federal Government, through the Office of the NSA, therefore appeals to the labour leadership to call off the current strike action and allow the dialogue process underway to be exhausted.”
