In response to the recent brutalisation of the National President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero, by the Nigeria Police Force in Imo State, the Organised Labour, comprising the NLC and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), has declared a comprehensive shutdown of services in the state.
Decisions taken at an extraordinary National Executive Council meeting on Tuesday afternoon mandated a shutdown, including the cessation of electricity and fuel supplies. Aviation workers have also been directed to suspend flights into and out of Imo state.
A communique released after the meeting stated, “The NEC-in-session orders the immediate withdrawal of services and shutdown of Imo State beginning midnight today. All workers and affiliates are expected to ensure compliance from wherever they are. All flights into and out of Imo state, fuel supplies and electricity be stopped immediately as applicable. All Public and Private Sector workers are to immediately down tools indefinitely.”
The Organised Labour’s implementation is set to begin at midnight on November 8, 2023, marking a significant escalation in the ongoing standoff between the unions and the state authorities.
The labour centres had issued a five-day ultimatum on Friday, demanding the redeployment of the Imo State Commissioner of Police and the arrest and prosecution of a government aide allegedly involved in the assault on Ajaero.
Ajaero’s arrest ahead of a statewide protest in Imo triggered a contentious narrative between the police, who claimed his custody was protective, and Governor Hope Uzodimma, who accused the labour leader of interfering in state politics.
The assault on Ajaero has garnered condemnation from various quarters, including notable figures such as Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 elections, and human rights lawyer Femi Falana (SAN).
