NLC gives latest update on planned protest

Amid controversies surrounding the planned protest by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), the leadership of the union has insisted that it will go ahead with its plan to protest the “mounting hunger and insecurity” in the country on Tuesday and Wednesday.

While speaking, NLC President, Joe Ajaero, who made this known on Sunday, accused the Federal Government of allegedly trying to use an amorphous group, Nigeria Civil Society Forum (NCSF) to attack its members during the rallies, adding that there would be a total shutdown of the country through the withdrawal of services by workers if any of its members were attacked during the protest.

It would be recalled that the Department of State Services had earlier warned that the protest may be hijacked by “some elements.”

Again, the Federal Government through the Attorney General and Minister of Justice Lateef Fagbemi (SAN) also warned Labour that embarking on the rallies would be contempt of court.

Ajaero however, called on the “international human rights body and the governments of the African Union and the United Nations that the right of the people to peacefully protest and demand for freedom from economic slavery and hardship was being threatened by the Nigerian State.”

The statement reads: “We would want to inform Nigerians that the State has perfected plans to attack our peaceful rallies across the country. One of the groups being primed to attack our peaceful rallies is by a nebulous name, Nigeria Civil Society Forum (NCSF).

“NCSF is one of the emergency groups put together, funded, promoted and remote-controlled by the government to cause violence against our members for electing to peacefully protest against hunger in the land. We would want the State to know that the solution to our horrible economic situation and hunger is not by suppressing peaceful dissent or inflicting violence on peacefully protesting citizens as the government did in Minna and other cities where its agents tear-gassed and beat up women before locking them up for raising their voice against hunger. It does not lie in the deployment of State -sponsored terror. The pangs of hunger cannot be cowed by bullets or tear gas.

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“In light of this, we at the Nigeria Labour Congress and civil society allies are moving ahead with our protest rallies against economic hardship and insecurity in line with the decision of the National Executive Council. As citizens, we have a fundamental right to peaceful protest and history bears us witness that our protests are always peaceful except in instances of state-engineered violence.

“In light of this, we advise the State to put on its thinking cap and find solutions to the pains it continues to cause the people instead of further dehumanising them. However, if it is irrevocably set on the path of violence against us and other peace-loving Nigerians, it will be making a costly mistake because if we are attacked there will be a total shutdown via withdrawal of services by workers. Let no one be deceived, we and other deprived Nigerians cannot easily be intimidated.

“Lest those in power now who may have forgotten be reminded, we faced a more resourceful and resilient adversary in order to have democracy. All we are saying now is that; let there be food for the people, _let the people live in safety, let the people live a life of dignity devoid of suffocating IMF/World Bank economic policies. Once again we advise those waiting in the wings to unleash violence on us that this is not about the NLC but about Nigerians who are saying “enough is enough”, about a people who have resolved not to be further pushed into the pit of misery and hopelessness, while a few live in obscene luxury at our collective expense.

“We are by this statement calling the attention of the international human rights body and the governments of the African Union and the United Nations that the right of the people to peacefully protest and demand for freedom from economic slavery and hardship is being threatened by the Nigerian State. We however remain resolute, determined and prepared to express our pain and grief in a peaceful manner as Nigerians come 27th and 28th of February 2024.”

The second leg of the union, TUC had earlier rejected the move to join the protest.