The President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero, has spoken out about his experience in the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS).
It can be recalled that Ajaero was arrested at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja on Monday. He was eventually released late in the evening.
Ajaero has revealed that the security agencies asked him about the Labour Party and whether the NLC runs the party, to which he replied no.
He described his experience as a public embarrassment. “I do not know why they have to embarrass me publicly like that,” he said.
Ajaero disclosed that he was interrogated by operatives of the Intelligence Response Team (IRT) of the Police, who asked him the same questions he was asked in a previous meeting with them on August 29, 2024.
He said, “The same IRT operatives in whose office we were on August 29, 2024, alongside Mr Femi Falana, came and asked the same questions I was asked in the previous meeting with them.
“They asked about the operator of Iva Valley Bookshop on the second floor of NLC secretariat building.
“They asked me whether we had communicated on phone, whether he (the Iva Valley operator) communicated with me in writing and so on.”
He added, “They also asked if I know the protesters (#EndBadGovernance or #Endhunger), especially Eleojo Opaluwa, a staff of the National Union of Electricity Employees, NUEE. I told them I knew him because I employed him at NUEE.
“They equally asked about the Labour Party, LP, whether we are running the party. I told them we do not run Labour Party, but that we are a trustee of the party.
“I also told them that the Labour Party they see today was founded when Adams Oshiomhole was President of NLC.
“Also, they asked about the issue of Air Peace which we had settled since last year.
“It is like the security agents are searching for evidence on how and what to nail us with. That is why they have continued to embarrass, persecute, intimidate and do whatever they liked to cow us.”
