The state’s Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Henry Okoye, stated this in a statement to newsmen in Owerri.
He denied the arrest of Ajaero by security operatives during the NLC strike action in the state.
“The Imo State Police Command wishes to clarify some sketchy reports alleging the arrest of the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Comrade Joe Ajaero, in Owerri.
“It is pertinent to state that the NLC President was in Owerri as part of arrangements of the Congress to mobilize workers for a mega protest rally in the state.
“In the course of their planning, it was reported that suggestions arose for the lockdown of some essential facilities particularly the airport which led to some workers and other individuals resisting the picketing process leading to scuffles heated arguments and an eventual attack on the person of the president by a mob,” the police spokesman said.
Upon receiving the report, Okoye said the Imo Police Command swiftly deployed its operatives to the scene where the Officer in Charge exercised his operational discretion by taking the NLC President into protective custody at the State Command Headquarters.
He said this measure was to ensure the protection of the labour leader’s life and that he was not lynched in the scuffle that followed.
Okoye further added that the Commissioner of Police thereafter directed that the NLC boss be taken to the Police Medical Services, Owerri, where he would be accorded medical attention as a result of the attack.
“He has therefore been accorded adequate security cover to proceed on his other legitimate engagements for the day,” the statement added.
The police however referenced a court injunction from the National Industrial Court of Nigeria held in Owerri with Suit No. NICN/OW/41/2023 dated 27th October 2023, barring the NLC from holding the intended protest rally in Owerri.
The State’s Commissioner of Police, Mohammed Ahmed Barde, therefore urged all concerned parties to ensure compliance with the Court directives.
He said that this was to avoid jeopardizing the current security arrangements on Owerri and other parts of Imo State, even as the State gears up for the forthcoming electioneering process on 11th November 2023.
