Why Ajaero Was Arrested

By Adesina Soyooye

As outrage continues to trail the arrest, Monday, of the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, Joe Ajaero, snippets are emerging on why he was arrested.

Ajaero was arrested at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport by operatives of the Department of State Services, DSS, on his way to board a flight to the United Kingdom for an official assignment. It was later alleged that he had been handed over to the National Intelligence Agency, NIA. That report sparked speculations that, perhaps, he was arrested over the allegations of treasonable felony made against him earlier by the Police.

However, from what his Lawyer, Femi Falana, SAN, said, Ajaero’s arrest on Monday  had nothing to do with his previous appointments/cases with the Police.

Snippets from the DSS tend to support Falana’s position. According to the  snippets, Ajaero was arrested by the DSS for shunning the Service’s  invitation to him.

They allege that Ajaero was invited by the DSS last week through a phone call. According to the DSS, Ajaero was invited by the DSS based on a petition written against Ajaero by his colleagues at the NLC. The DSS made the point that its new Director General inherited the petition, and decided to investigate it. The Service alleged that Ajaero was being expected at DSS, but that it was surprised to hear that Ajaero was at the Airport on his way out of the Country.

Ajaero’s arrest sparked an ultimatum by the NLC to the DSS after an emergency meeting the NLC. The Congress professed Ajaero’s innocence, and asked that Ajaero be released before 12 midnight or workers would embark on strike.

As demanded by the NLC, Ajaero was released just before the 12 midnight deadline.

His trip to the UK has, however, been completely aborted as his international passport was seized by the DSS.

At the time of this report, the DSS has not made public the contents of the petition against Ajaero, or the names of his colleagues who wrote the petition against him.