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Police Brutalise NLC Protesters by BOLAUWA: 10:18am On May 20, 2016 |
The police yesterday descended on labour leaders in
Ebonyi State for organising rally to protest the hike in
the pump price of petrol from N86 to N145 per litre.
Chairman of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC),
Comrade Ikechukwu Nwafor, was beaten and injured
by the police in Abakaliki during a peaceful rally in
support of the on-going strike declared by a faction of
the NLC. Nwafor, who was teargassed by the police,
sustained leg and head injuries.
He was bundled into a police Hilux van and whisked to
police headquarters in Abakaliki, the state capital.
Other labour leaders also sustained varying degrees of
injuries during the rally. The labour leaders had
gathered at the NLC secretariat located along
Ugwuachara Road, Abakaliki and commenced the rally.
On getting to Bishop Mcgretrick Pastoral Centre along
old Enugu Road, the labour leaders were intercepted
by a team of policemen, who were in three Hilux vans
and who immediately fired teargas on them, leading to
pandemonium in the metropolis as people scampered
for safety. This was as some policemen threw teargas
while others descended on the labour leaders.
The labour leaders were later arrested and taken to the
police headquarters, where they were detained.
Addressing reporters, Nwafor, who was in police
custody alongside other labour leaders, said: “We were
on a peaceful rally over the fuel price increase and
electricity tariff when we were attacked and it is a
protest that is on-going all over the country and we
notified the police of the protest.
“We gave them a letter on the protest. After I called the
Commissioner of Police and she didn’t pick the call,
we made sure that the letter was delivered to the
commissioner and then commenced the rally. “We
were marching peacefully when policemen came and
attacked us. They tear-gassed and beat me up.
Five policemen bundled me and threw me into their
Hilux van and that was why I broke my hands and legs
like this. “As you can see, I can’t walk, I’m being
assisted to walk and yet, the police refused to allow
me to go so that I can go for treatment,” he said. In a
reaction, the state Commissioner of Police, Ibekwe
Abdallah, noted that the labour leaders were
organising illegal meeting that could spark off violence
in the state when police got to know about it and
dispersed them. Abdallah added that she received a
letter from the labour leaders over their planned
protest and that the letter was brought to her office at
the time the labour leaders were on the rally.
Workers in the state were seen at their duty posts
when our correspondent visited different government
offices in the state. The leadership of the NLC has
demanded for the release of the labour leaders. While
demanding for the immediate release of the arrested
labour members, the Congress said it would not allow
any distraction to take it off the struggle path. NLC
General Secretary, Dr. Peter Ozo-Eson, in Abuja,
warned that overzealous security personnel should not
escalate the protest, which has been peaceful. The
Labour body said that the struggle continued, no
matter government’s intimidation.
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“We urge overzealous police personnel who arrested
and detained some of our members in Ebonyi State to
unconditionally release them immediately. “We would
use this opportunity to sound a note of warning to all
overzealous security personnel. “This has been a
peaceful protest and we intend to keep it so.
They should do nothing reckless to escalate it,” Eson
said. The protest, which took off at the popular Berger
Roundabout, Abuja moved through Area I and Central
Business District with improved participation.
Meanwhile, there are indications that the NLC may call
off its two-day old industrial action anytime from
today. This is even as the NLC yesterday agreed to
resume negotiation with the Federal Government on
the strike action over deregulation of the downstream
sector of the oil industry. The agreement was reached
at a mediatory meeting with Speaker of the House of
Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, last night in Abuja,
according to a statement by his media adviser, Turaki
Hassan.
Dogara and the NLC leaders, led by the national
president, Comrade Ayuba Wabba, met behind closed
doors for one hour where the agreement was reached.
During the meeting, the speaker made passionate
appeal to the labour leaders to consider national
interest over and above all other interests even as they
deliberate to take decision on the current strike action.
The speaker urged the NLC to, in the interest of the
nation, consider suspending or calling off the strike
action while negotiations continue.
Responding, Wabba thanked the speaker for his
interest in resolving the crisis through mediation and
assured that they will report the discussions to the
larger body of their members.
Consequently, the NLC resolved to communicate the
new development to the larger body comprising of all
its affiliate unions because “we have absolute
confidence in the leadership of the speaker.” Speaking
after an earlier meeting with the President of the
Senate, Bukola Saraki, Wabba said that Labour was
open to negotiation with the Federal Government on
the dispute. The NLC President, however, insisted that
the strike embarked upon by the union would continue.
Wabba, who is leading a faction of the NLC, also
clarified that the union had never staged a walk out on
the Federal Government delegation, contrary to media
reports.
However, the Trade Union Congress (TUC) and the Joe
Ajaero-led NLC faction which controls the Nigeria
Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers
(NUPENG), Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff
Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), National Union
of Electricity Employees and others refused to
participate in the strike, calling for support for
government.
Saraki said that the NLC had shown commitment for
dialogue, assuring that the National Assembly would
play its role in resolving the crisis. |
Re: Police Brutalise NLC Protesters by ernesty20(m): 10:19am On May 20, 2016 |
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