In a bold move, the Organised Labour, which includes the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), has ordered a shutdown of electricity and fuel supplies in Imo State, along with directing aviation workers to suspend flights into and out of the state. This decision comes in response to the brutalization of the National President of the NLC, Joe Ajaero, by Nigeria Police Force operatives last week.
The directive was one of several decisions reached during an extraordinary National Executive Council (NEC) meeting convened by the TUC and NUC on Tuesday afternoon. The meeting took place following a five-day ultimatum issued by the labor centers after the initial arrest of Joe Ajaero in Owerri, Imo State, last Wednesday.
A communique released at the end of the NEC 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 implementation of these actions is set to commence at midnight on November 8, 2023.
The Organized Labour centers demanded the redeployment of the state’s commissioner of police and the arrest and prosecution of a government aide alleged to have been involved in the attack on Joe Ajaero. If their demands are not met within five days from the issuance of the ultimatum, the unions threatened to embark on a nationwide industrial action.
Joe Ajaero’s arrest and subsequent treatment sparked widespread condemnation and concerns about police brutality in the country, with prominent figures like Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 elections, and human rights lawyer Femi Falana (SAN) expressing their disapproval of the incident.