Ajaero may be flown abroad for treatment —NLC
By Matthew Atungwu
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) said yesterday that Joe Ajaero, its president, is in extremely critical health and may need to travel overseas for a thorough medical examination. On Wednesday in Owerri, the capital of Imo State, he was allegedly beaten, brutalized, and battered by police officers and other state agents.
Recall that security personnel and alleged state agents had stormed Aajaro with other labour leaders, smashing their cars, causing injuries, and taking away phones, cash, and ATM cards, among other valuables, from the leaders of the labour movement and others who had assembled at the NLC State secretariat to start a planned demonstration over unresolved labour issues.
The NLC President, other national leaders of NLC, and their Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, TUC, counterpart, were at the state Secretariat in Owerri to protest among other grievances backlog of unpaid salaries and allowances, Pensions, gratuities and non-compliance with the National Minimum Wage Act.
After his release from Police abduction Wednesday night, Ajaero who looked very weak was wearing a neck collar with weal all over his skin and was “referred to ophthalmic investigation, a head/brain scan, a full body scan, and cervical spine therapy among other investigations.”
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Speaking on the health condition of the NLC President, an Assistant General Secretary and chief of Staff to the NLC president, Chris Onyeka, lamented that his situation had worsened and could hardly talk saying he almost passed out last night.
According to him: “The Congress President is in a very critical condition. He is so weak and can hardly talk. He almost passed out last night. The Congress is considering flying him abroad for a full medical examination. There is high apprehension and fear that he might have been injected with a substance. As you may have seen, he was brutally beaten, brutalized, and battered in addition to confiscating his phones, monies, and other personal belongings. We have suspended the action in Imo State because, besides the President, other Labour leaders suffered a similar fate. They need to take care of themselves and recover from the injuries inflicted on them by agents of the state government including operatives of the Imo State Police Command.”
Meanwhile, it was gathered that the leaders (organs) of NLC and TUC will meet next week on Tuesday, to decide on the appropriate response to the attack and brutalization of the NLC President and other Labour leaders in Owerri.
Meantime, more reactions have continued to trail the attack and brutalization of Ajaero and other labour leaders in Owerri.
Reacting, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, LP, in the February 2023 Presidential election, Mr Peter Obi, yesterday, condemned the attack on Joe Ajaero, describing it as lawlessness, impunity, criminality, and rascality.
Obi, who condemned the attack on Ajaerovia on his X account (formerly Twitter), the incident “has come as a rude shock to most Nigerians. It says a lot about the state of affairs in our country today.”
The LP candidate, said: “It shows the level of lawlessness, impunity, criminality, and rascality that have engulfed our dear country. Things like this should worry any discerning mind because it runs counter to the type of country that we all desire and deserve.