Police Deployment to NURTW Secretariat, an Act of Dictatorship, Says NLC

•Vow to begin nationwide strike without notice

Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja

Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has described the continued occupation of the headquarters of National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) by the Nigeria Police as an act of dictatorship.

NLC threatened that if the police refused its appeal to pull out of the NURTW office in Abuja, it would be compelled to mobilise its affiliates for a national strike without notice.

NLC’s position was in response to a statement by the Nigeria Police, Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Command, signed by the command’s spokesperson, Superintendent Josephine Adeh.

The congress said there was no manifest threat to the NURTW secretariat to warrant such police action.

A statement signed by NLC’s Head of Information and Public Affairs, Mr. Benson Upah, said the congress will not only commence a national strike action without further notice, but it will also invite the support of other labour centres globally if the police failed to vacate the NURTW premises.

NLC stated, “In the event the police refuse to hearken to our wise counsel, we would:

“Escalate this matter to other labour centres across the world, the ILO and other international organisations or bodies; commence a national strike action without further notice.

“Accordingly, unions, state councils and civil society allies are to take this statement as a notice for mass action against dictatorship, impunity and oppression”

NLC said the police were expected to be impartial in their operations and conduct, and stressed that their loyalty should be to the people of Nigeria and not regimes. It described the police defence of its action as rich in justifications, rules of engagement and constitutional mandate but lacking in good intentions.

The congress said in the statement, “In a few words, we reiterate as follows: a lawfully-elected leadership of the union is in place and in office. If anyone or party is deserving of protection, it is the lawfully elected one and not an impostor;

“There was no manifest threat to the secretariat, let alone its neighbourhood, so the police invited themselves in pursuance of a sinister motive by the state and they know it.”

NLC held that in the event of a major intra or inter-union dispute, there were clear provisions in the corpus of labour law for internal conflict resolution.

According to the umbrella labour body, the police are not part of the internal dispute resolution process, which is why their invasion constitute a violent interference in the internal matters of the union, in clear violation of the law

NLC said, “We want to state clearly that even our own internal mechanism was not exhausted before the police invited themselves in;

“Even during military dictatorship, the military were circumspect about taking over trade unions. So what kind of democracy are we running?

“The imminent bloodbath, which the police speak about in their statement, operate only their wild imagination;

“The invasion, according to the statement, ‘is to ensure that disputes are resolved peacefully and in accordance with the law’. We ask, when did our police constitute themselves into law courts? Isn’t this a case of extreme violation of our constitutional safeguards, which clearly emphasise the separation of powers?”

NLC further said the police action was at variance with their mandate and a violation of the extant labour laws.

It stated regarding the police action, “It constitutes an interference in the internal affairs of the union in the eyes of the law, is worse than the military coup in Niger, and poses a threat to the operation of our democracy, and remains unacceptable.

“Accordingly, we demand as follows: immediate withdrawal of the police from the secretariat of NURTW to enable the lawfully elected leadership of the union function;

“Allow for the operation of the internal conflict resolution mechanism midwifed by the congress;

“Stop being an interloper and face other pressing internal security challenges.”