Less than 24 hours after his arrest, the President of the Nigerian Labour Congress, NLC, Mr. Joe Ajaero, was released late Monday by the Department of State Services, DSS.
Ajaero was released at about 11.10 p.m on Monday.
Before he was freed, the arrest had been greeted by widespread condemnation nationwide.
Ajaero was arrested at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Aiport in Abuja, on his way to London to attend the Trade Union Congress, TUC of the United Kingdom conference, which began yesterday.
His arrest came as the secret police laid siege to the Abuja office of the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, SERAP, for allegedly asking the government to reverse the recent increase in the price of petrol.
SERAP has, however, asked President Bola Tinubu to direct the DSS to stop its attack.
Ajaero was arrested 11 days after he honoured an invitation by the Police on August 29, and was released the same day.
A day before he honoured the invitation, the police on August 28 re-invited Ajaero “in furtherance of investigations into an alleged case of criminal intimidation, conducts likely to cause a breach of public peace and malicious damage to properties in which your name featured.”
“You are requested to come along with Comrade Emmanuel Ugboaja for an interview with the Deputy Inspector General of Police, Force Intelligence Department, FID, through the undersigned, at SPO’s Room 12, 2nd Floor, Force Intelligence Department, FID, Complex, Shehu Shagari way, opposite Force Headquarters Area 11, Garki, Abuja on Thursday, 5th September 2024 at 11am.
“On arrival, you may wish to call Mr. Usman on GSM number 08039659139. Your cooperation in this regard is highly solicited, please,” the police invitation read.
Speaking on the issue, legal adviser to NLC, Femi Falana, SAN, said the arrest of his client was not connected with an earlier invitation by the Police, adding that the secret police had failed to provide any reason for Ajaero’s arrest.
“The invitation to Comrade Joe Ajaero by the police was rescheduled last week. I have contacted the police authorities. The arrest is not related to the police invitation.
“Comrade Ajaero was on his way to London to attend the ongoing TUC conference when he was arrested at the airport this morning (yesterday) by the DSS. No reason has been provided for the arrest,’’ Falana said.
Also, the NLC dismissed insinuations that Ajaero was arrested for failing to honour an invitation by the DSS, or any other security agency, saying the report was nothing but mere mischief.
An online platform had claimed that a local airline, Air Peace, wrote a petition against the NLC President, adding that when the DSS invited Ajaero for interrogation, he failed to honour the invite.
Dismissing the report, Head, Media /Information, Benson Upah, said: “We know those behind the baseless report. They should come open and tell the world why the NLC president was arrested. I can tell you that he was not arrested for failure to honour any invitation by the security agencies.
‘’The only invitation we know of was the one by the Police on September 5, 2024, for which we have an understanding with the Police that Ajaero will honour the invitation on September 24 because of several commitments within and outside the country.”
However, Air Peace Airline has faulted reports that the DSS arrested Ajaero due to his failure to honour police invitation over its petition. The airline said the petition had long been withdrawn.
Air Peace Spokesperson, Omotade Makinwa, in a statement, said having resolved their differences, the airline and NLC shared a cordial relationship, noting that anything that could break the bond should be jettisoned.
The statement read: “Air Peace Airline expresses deep concern over recent media reports regarding the arrest of the President of the NLC in connection to a petition filed by the airline in September 2023. This development, which has led to negative publicity, does not reflect the current relationship between Air Peace and the NLC.
“It is important to clarify the events leading up to the petition. On May 3, 2023, the NLC disrupted Air Peace operations as part of a broader conflict with the Imo State Government.
“Although Air Peace had no involvement in the dispute between the NLC and the Imo State Government, our airline was unfortunately used as a tool to exert pressure on the government. This unlawful disruption of our services caused significant financial losses and impacted the travel plans of many Nigerians across multiple states.
“In response to this disruption, Air Peace’s legal team submitted a formal petition against the NLC to the Nigerian Police. Despite our repeated efforts to follow up on the petition, the Police failed to take prompt action.
“However, over a year later, the Nigerian Police have chosen to act on the original petition, which has now led to the alleged arrest of the NLC president. Prior to this arrest, the airline and the NLC had already reached an amicable resolution, and Air Peace had withdrawn its petition, allowing a positive working relationship to resume between the two organisations.”
Those who condemned the arrest of the NLC leader, Monday, and called for his immediate release include the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, TUC; National Union of Electricity Employees, NUEE; Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria, MWUN; Amnesty International; Peoples Democratic Party, PDP; United Action Front of Civil Society, UAFCS; and Human Rights Writers Association, HURIWA.