Labour Leaders Allege Threat to Lives, Seek Probe of el-Rufai

Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja and John Shiklam in Kaduna

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) yesterday called on the police and other security agencies to interrogate Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, over alleged threats to labour leaders’ lives.

It urged the police and other security agencies to hold the state government responsible for any harm to any of its leaders or any worker or any union property in the state.

In a statement yesterday by the NLC President, Ayuba Wabba, the union warned that if any harm is done to any of its leaders or any worker or to any union property in Kaduna State, workers will withdraw their services without any further notice.

NLC also said its attention had been drawn to a viral video where el-Rufai was said to have alleged that the Kaduna protest was sponsored by the Kano State Government.

The statement said: “We wish to posit that the day any harm is done to any leader of the NLC or any worker or to any union property in Kaduna State, Nigerian workers will withdraw their services without any further notice.

“We also wish to urge the Nigeria Police Force and other security agents to take note of the fresh threats by Mr. Nasir El-Rufai against Nigerian workers”.

NLC called on the security agents to discharge their duties and interrogate the governor.
It denied being sponsored by the Kano State Governor, Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje.

“We wish to reject this lie which is nothing but another figment of hallucination by a state governor whose past time is oppression, suppression and intimidation,” the NLC said.
The congress said since el-Rufai sacked thousands of Kaduna State workers, he had blamed everyone for his industrial malfeasance.

“In recent videos, Mr. el-Rufai has blamed the federal government for not rallying to his support during the protest by workers. When that failed to gain traction, el-Rufai blamed his colleagues in Nigeria Governors’ Forum.

“Now, he has narrowed his blame arrow on the Kano State governor, alleging that it was Alhaji Umar Ganduje who provided NLC with the funds to prosecute our last peaceful protest in Kaduna State,” it added.

On the allegation of sponsorship of the Kaduna protest, the NLC said the Kaduna state governor might just be looking at himself in the mirror, adding that to date, el-Rufai has not refuted the charge that “he was the one who masterminded the sponsorship of hooligans to attack a peaceful protest by workers, injuring and maiming many workers in the process”.

The spokesman of the Kaduna State governor, Mr. Muyiwa Adekeye, did not respond to text messages and phone calls when contacted over the NLC allegation.