The Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) has broken its silence on the planned nationwide protest against bad governance and economic hardship.
The labour body has called on the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to ensure the protest is not hijacked by hoodlums.
TUC President, Comrade Festus Osifo, in a statement, said that the Nigerian Police is mandated by the Police Act and the Constitution to provide adequate security for protesters and maintain law and order.
Osifo clarified that the TUC will not mobilize members to join the protest, as the organizers have not reached out for collaboration.
He said: “When you are having a protest you need to sit down, have conversation, have meetings, you plan but as of today, nobody has reached out to us that they want to protest, nobody has asked for our collaboration so how do you expect us to participate in a protest when we don’t know who is organising it?
“We don’t even have any idea whatsoever what is going to happen and as an institution, we also know too that we have various organs that we run some of those things with. The leadership never sat down one day on the phone to call for a strike or protest but instead, we called the organs’ meeting to do review.
“The same way you saw it in the media is the way we have seen it. it’s something we don’t really know who is organising it, we don’t really know who is protesting but all we know is that the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is very clear on the issue of protest and the ptolice Act also mandated the police that when there is a protest they should ensure there is law and order, they should ensure those that are protesting are also protected.
“That is why we are reminding them that provision in the Police Act and the provision in the Constitution should be respected. If they had contacted us maybe we would have called our organs meeting for us to review but as of today, there is clearly nothing to discuss, there is clearly nothing to review.”
More to follow…
