By Charles Igbo
The Imo State Government says that Governor Hope Uzodinma regrets the brutalisation of the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Joe Ajaero, in the State.
Ajaero, on November 1, 2023, was brutalised in Owerri, Imo State, when he went to organise Workers for a protest against the State Government over sundry issues concerning the welfare of Workers in the State.
According to him, he was at the NLC State Secretariat when a combination of thugs and Policemen from the Owerri Police Command pounced on the assembled Workers, and marked him out for special beating. He said he was dragged on the ground into a vehicle where he was blindfolded. He later ended up at the Headquarters of the State Command from where he was taken to the Police Hospital. From there, he was taken to the Federal Medical Centre, Owerri, and later the Turkish Hospital Abuja.
His humiliation sparked an outrage, with many people holding the State Government and the Police responsible for his ordeal. His Constituency, the Labour Union, declared a strike action which grounded Nigeria, almost. It was called off on Wednesday after the intervention of the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, AIG rtd, who led a Federal Government Team to a discussion with the Leadership of the Labour.
Hours before the meeting, Ribadu revealed that some of those who beat up Ajaero have been arrested.
The Imo State Government has since denied complicity in Ajaero’s brutalization. On Thursday, the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Declan Emelumba, in an interview with Channels Television, emphasized that no Imo State Government official was arrested in connection with Ajaero’s ordeal. He said none was involved.
Emelumba: “I will say emphatically that the Government has no hands in the attack. The Governor has, also, regretted the attack. He feels bad that he (Ajaero) was treated that way.
“But I think it is important to note that the NSA has said that they have arrested some of those who attacked him, and the Police are investigating.
“It’s a statement of fact, and I don’t think any Government official was among those arrested.”
On the the claims that Nze Chinasa Nwaneri, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Special Duties, was tye Leader of those who attacked Ajaero, Emelumba dismissed it as a blatant lie. He said Nwaneri was no where near the scene of the attack.
He said: “The Governor’s Aide was not involved. I can tell you categorically. He wasn’t even around Imo State that day. These are figments of imagination. No Government official was involved, and this is verifiable.”
The Imo State Council of Elders, led by its Chairman, HRH Eze Cletus Ilomuanya, has also visited Ajaero to apologize to him over his brutalization in the State.
Ajaero is from Owerri North Local Government Area, Imo State.
