By Adadareporters
The Civil Liberties Organization, Tuesday, described the arrest of Comrade Joe Ajaero, the president of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), and the occupation of the Abuja office of the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), Monday, as “a clear dissent of President Bola Tinubu’s regime to an absolute and full-blown civilian dictatorship and fascist authoritarianism”.
CLO’s executive director, Comrade Ibuchukwu Ezike, stated this in a release on Tuesday.
It would be recalled that Comrade Ajaero was arrested at the international wing of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, on his way to the United Kingdom to address UK’sTrade Union Congress (TUC) on economic equity, social justice and respect for human rights.
CLO stated that, “No explanations on his illegal arrest by the attack dogs of President Tinubu were offered to Ajaero. However, facts that later emerged from the DSS alleged that Ajaero jumped the Directorate of State Service ( DSS) bail.”
The rights group claimed that it gathered that DSS released “a watery defence on Ajaero’s unlawful arrest late Monday evening, explaining that the Labour leader allegedly failed to honour his invitation order to their office to answer questions on the content of a petition against him”.
According to CLO, the security agency queried why Nigerians should rise in total condemnation of their “atrocious acts while highly placed citizens in foreign lands can be quizzed and interrogated on allegations of crimes”.
The group also described, as a disturbing development, the alleged siege on the Abuja office of SERAP, Monday evening, by the DSS.
Ezike said, “Shockingly, like in Ajaero’s case, the sealing of CLO office in 2009 and invasion of NLC’s national office in Abuja, a few weeks ago, no warrant of arrest and search was issued on SERAP. The rising trend of gross violation of fundamental human rights and civil liberties of Nigerian citizens and lawful institutions since May 29, 2023, has become an issue of monumental concern to the Civil Liberties Organisation.
“From the questionable and unexplainable increases in the pump prices of petroleum products which occasioned astronomical hike in transportation costs, school fees, foodstuffs, house rents, electricity tariffs without corresponding augmentation in the starvation wages of workers across the country, the government has resumed a regime of vulgar acquisition of public wealths and hounding of human rights defenders and credible, transparent and legal institutions that can interrogate or resist such heinous perpetrations into detention, torture and extortion with the intention to cow Nigerians into submission.”
He said the act resembled eras of Joseph Desire Mobutu of the Democratic Republic Congo; Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe; Paul Biya of Cameroun; Omar Bongo Ondimba of Gabon; Francisco Marcia Nguema of Equitorial Guinea; Siad Barre of Somalia; Omar Al-bashir of Sudan and Idi Amin Dada of Uganda.
The statement added, “In the face of these grave threats, the onus lies on the CLO and co-human rights movements — both local and international, labour unions, men and women of conscience, Nigerians in Diaspora and the international community– to rise up to the occasion and diligently work to stem down this wilful conspiracy against our society and people. The time is now.”
It regretted that while bandits were kidnapping nurses and patients in a Kaduna hospital same Monday, the nation’s security agents were “quizzing an armless and law-abiding NLC leader and invading SERAP’s office”.
It therefore condemned the violation of human rights by Nigerian authorities, maintaining that “Nigeria must be free and our people must have food in the midst of lavishing plenty to eat and their fundamental human rights which are attributes of accountable and constitutional democracy to enjoy.”
