The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has warned that it will instruct its members to withdraw their services if the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) does not apologize for its recent invasion of its offices.
Benson Upah, Head of Information and Public Affairs for the NLC, made this statement in Abuja yesterday.
He emphasized that the NLC’s Abuja headquarters does not harbor criminals and criticized the police for their “Gestapo-like” raid and seizure of documents.
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Upah indicated that if the government and police fail to apologize and cease their actions against the NLC, the organization is prepared to consider a range of responses.
“We have many options to choose from. One of those options is to withdraw our
services. Our members have the right to withdraw their services if the government
continues to persecute us,” he said. He added that the leadership of the NLC would
raise a forensic audit team to ascertain the suitability and safety of the office for
the workers.
“We also promised to set up necessary machinery to conduct a forensic audit of
the national headquarters to ascertain its safety and continued suitability for the
use of workers before we ask our members to report to work even as we consider
the invasion a deliberate act of provocation intended to draw us out,” he added.
Upah alleged a declaration of a hybrid war against NLC by the government, saying:
“For instance, in the days preceding the End-Hunger protests, the Registrar of Trade Unions, acting on orders from above, wrote a letter of threat on our relationship with Labour Party, citing Section 15 (ss) 2, 3, 4 of the Trade Unions Act.
“In their bid to suppress our voice, they forgot the provisions of Sections 39 to 40
of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), the Supreme Court’s decision on the right
of public servants to hold political views, the provisions of the African Charter on
People and Human Rights as well as ILO Conventions 87 and 98.”
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He also accused the government of urgently trying to limit the term of office for trade unionists to just two years.
Upah asserted that these actions amounted to significant interference in the internal affairs of trade unions, violating both Labour Law and International Labour Organization (ILO) Conventions.
While Upah admitted that the police had offered some explanations regarding the
invasion, he argued: “If the police truly had credible intelligence and if Congress
was not their target, what was wrong in taking the leadership of Congress into
confidence? And if they felt that would jeopardise the operation, couldn’t they
have confided in the leadership at H-hour?”
