Operatives of the Imo State Nigeria Police Force today Wednesday, November 1, arrested the National President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, Joe Ajaero in Owerri, the state capital.
The NLC Head of Information, Benson Upah, who confirmed the development noted that Ajaero was picked up at the state secretariat of the congress and carried to an unknown location.
“President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Joe Ajaero, was picked up a few minutes ago from NLC state council secretariat by heavily armed policemen in Owerri and taken to an unknown destination,” he stated.
The NLC had initially vowed to mobilize its members for a total strike in the state starting today, Wednesday.
He stated that the governor, Hope Uzodimma neglected workers’ welfare, additionally, that many of them have died because of the lack of payment of their salaries.
He noted some of the violations against workers by the governor, including the refusal to implement previous agreements especially the accord reached on January 9, 2021, outstanding salary arrears of 20 months, unjust declaration of workers as ghost workers, declaration of pensioners as ghost workers and unsettled gratuity arrears, among others.
According to him, approximately 10,000 pensioners have been wrongly labelled as ghost pensioners which resulted in over 22 months of unpaid pensions while about 11,000 workers have been branded by the Imo State Government as ghost workers.
The NLC president also lamented the non-compliance with the national minimum wage by the state government, adding that Governor Uzodinma has resisted the use of social dialogue and collective bargaining to resolve the issues.
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