The National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, stated on Wednesday that an investigation has been initiated into the assault on the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero.
The NSA also mentioned that some suspects have been apprehended in connection with the incident in Owerri, the Imo State capital, on November 1, 2023.
Labour initiated a nationwide strike on Tuesday to demand justice for the assault on Ajaero, who was attacked as he was about to lead a protest against alleged anti-labour practices by the Governor Hope Uzodimma-led administration.
Following the incident and in the days leading up to the Imo State governorship election on November 11, 2023, the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, redeployed Mohammed Barde, the then Commissioner of Police in the state, under whose watch the incident occurred. The IGP also ordered an investigation into the assault on the NLC leader.
However, the President of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Festus Osifo, expressed a lack of confidence in the IGP’s probe and called on the NSA to lead the investigation.
“The office of the NSA should lead this investigation; it should not even be the Inspector General of Police because, in this particular subject, we also feel that the IGP is compromised,” Osifo said on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily program early Wednesday.
“Responding approximately two hours after Osifo’s comments on the breakfast show, the NSA stated that his office is actively concerned about the matter.”
In a statement signed by Zakari Mijinyawa, the Head of Strategic Communication in the NSA Office, Ribadu “regrets the incident” on Ajaero and “condemns it in its entirety as it was against the rule of law and the principles of freedom of association and expression subscribed to by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his administration”.
The NSA emphasized that the Federal Government will never tolerate such conduct.
“As a fallout of the incident relevant authorities were directed to conduct a thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding the assault and bring to book the culprits. An available update indicates that some arrests have already been made in this regard. The outcome of the investigation will be made public as soon as it is concluded,” the statement partly read.
“The Federal Government, through the Office of the NSA, therefore appeals to the labour leadership to call off the current strike action and allow the dialogue process underway to be exhausted.”