The United Action Front of Civil Society, the arrowhead of the organised civil society and pro democracy movement of Nigeria, has condemned the reported arrest of the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Joe Ajaero.
The civil society group also frowns at the widely reported invasion of the Abuja offices of the Social Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), by operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS), both events which took place today.
In a statement made available to The Frontier and signed by its spokesman, Mallam Hamisu Santuraki, the group said the arrest and invasion are “needless show of force” by the state agents which “may lead to mass resistance and civil disobedience in the country”.
“For us in the organised civil society and pro democracy movement of Nigeria, the abduction of Ajaero today is brash and indecent on the part of Nigerian security operatives and should be condemned by all Nigerians. We therefore wish to unequivocally condemn this needless rascality employed by the DSS today against the President of the NLC which has already generated shockwaves through the length and breadth of the country and may lead to mass resistance and civil disobedience in the country if Ajaero is not released immediately by the State.”
“Similarly, we condemn in strongest terms, the crude invasion of the office of the Social Economic Rights and Accountability Project, SERAP, a major civil society platform in Nigeria this Monday morning in Abuja for no stated reasons by the same Operatives of the State. The illegal operations of Nigerian Security Operatives without arrest and search warrants can only depict Nigeria as a panicky and drowning Police State trying to gag every civil and democratic voice in the country,” the group stated.
Read the full statement (unedited) below:
PRESS RELEASE
9th September, 2024
ARREST OF NLC PRESIDENT, AJAERO BY DSS, ATTEMPT TO CAUSE NATIONAL ANARCHY
…..INVASION OF SERAP OFFICE, UNCIVIL AND BARBARIC…. DEPICTS NIGERIA AS A POLICE STATE
The United Action Front of Civil Society frowns strongly at the needless show of force by the Operatives of the Department of State Services, DSS in abducting the President of the Nigerian Labour Congress, NLC, Comrade Joe Ajaero in a gestapo manner at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja on his way to attend the Conference of the Trade Union Congress, TUC in the United Kingdom, which is billed to commence today.
We wish to state that the DSS has for no reason broken the civil and conventional practice earlier adopted by the police as touching security issues with well known high profile citizens and leaders of the people like the President of the NLC by by extending invitations to them rather than employing dehumanising tactics such as forceful abduction against them to embarrass and intimidate them like common criminals.
As a matter of fact, Comrade Joe Ajaero is a huge Leader of both the Labour movement and the masses of Nigeria given his popular position as the President of the NLC and therefore deserves to be treated with profound decorum and courtesy. Consequently, security issues with him should be handled with due process and not with gestapo tactics displayed by security agents today to cause national chaos.
For us in the organised civil society and pro democracy movement of Nigeria, the abduction of Ajaero today is brash and indecent on the part of Nigerian security operatives and should be condemned by all Nigerians. We therefore wish to unequivocally condemn this needless rascality employed by the DSS today against the President of the NLC which has already generated shockwaves through the length and breadth of the country and may lead to mass resistance and civil disobedience in the country if Ajaero is not released immediately by the State
Similarly, we condemn in strongest terms, the crude invasion of the office of the Social Economic Rights and Accountability Project, SERAP, a major civil society platform in Nigeria this Monday morning in Abuja for no stated reasons by the same Operatives of the State. The illegal operations of Nigerian Security Operatives without arrest and search warrants can only depict Nigeria as a panicky and drowning Police State trying to gag every civil and democratic voice in the country.
Finally, We demand the immediate release of the NLC President and retreat from the office of SERAP to avoid undue collision with the Nigerian civil society. However, as a major Pillar of the Labour and Civil Society Front, LCSFront, we wish to call on our allies nationwide to immediately commence national consultations on how best to halt the growing police State in Nigeria as evidenced by the massive repression of civil and democracy space by State Agent in Nigeria
Signed
Mallam Hamisu Santuraki
(070-301-47731)
Spokesperson,
National Coordinating Secretariat,
United Action Front of Civil Society
