Amnesty International Condemns NLC Chairman’s Police Invite

Mayowa DurosinmiAugust 21, 20241 Mins read88

Amnesty International Condemns NLC Chairman's Police Invite

Amnesty International has on Tuesday condemned the terrorism-related allegations levelled against Joe Ajaero, the President of Nigeria’s Labor Congress (NLC), stating it can cripple the union.

This was contained in a statement released by the Director of Amnesty International Nigeria, Isa Sanusi, who stated the human rights body “is deeply concerned by the Nigerian authorities’ fresh attempts to further intimidate and harass the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) through threats of arrests of its President, Joe Ajaero.”

According to the human rights body, such action violates various legal instruments, including international human rights law and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, which protect freedom of association.

“The Nigerian authorities have an obligation not only to respect workers’ rights but also to protect these rights from abuse. Freedom of association is guaranteed, and workers cannot be targeted for participating in trade union activities.

“We urge the authorities to end this pattern of brazen impunity and respect the right of the labour unions to agree or disagree with the government and its policies,” says Amnesty International.

It will be recalled that on Monday, as reported, the Nigerian Police Intelligence Response Team (IRT) in Abuja invited Mr Ajaero over allegations of terrorism financing, cybercrime, subversion, criminal conspiracy, and treasonable felony.

The invitation also came after the controversial raid of the NLC headquarters in Abuja on August 7, 2024. With this, the human rights body urged the authorities to end what it described as a pattern of brazen impunity and disrespect to the right of labour unions to agree or disagree with the government and its policies.

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