“Police Handed Me Over To Thugs” – Joe Ajaero, NLC President
President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Joe Ajaero on Friday said that he was arrested in Owerri by the Police and was handed over to waiting thugs that got him thoroughly beaten.
He said that the thugs, who were about seven in number, dragged him on the floor like a common criminal.
While briefing journalists in Abuja, the NLC president said the NLC wrote to all the security agencies before they went to the state for the protest on 1st November.
According to him, workers who arrived at the venue of the protest on that day around 7 am were beaten up by thugs with their phones seized.
Ajaero said further that he got there around 9 am after he got the report of an assault on workers , adding that the police arrested him and handed him over to thugs.
He said: “I can’t explain the beating I received. They tied my hands and dragged me on the floor like a common criminal.”
The NLC President denied the allegation by the Imo State government that he is a card carrying member of the Labour Party.
“I am not a card-carrying member of any political party as alleged,” he said.