The Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO) has described as an absolute display of fascism the illegal and brazen arrest of Comrade Joe Ajaero, Presídent of the Nígeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the raiding and occupation of the office of the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), on Monday, September 9th, 2024.
The Executive Director of CLO, Comrade Ibuchukwu Ezike, said that it is clear that President Tinubu’s administration has descended into “an absolute and full-blown civilian dictatorship and fascist authoritarianism.”
Ezike said that Comrade Ajaero was arrested at the international wing of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, on his way to the United Kingdom to address the country’s Congress of the Trade Union Congress (TUC) on economic equity, social justice and respect for human rights.
He noted that no explanations for his illegal arrest by the attack dogs of President Tinubu were offered to Ajaero. However, facts that later emerged from the DSS alleged that Ajaero jumped DSS bail.
Ezike said: “CLO gathered that DSS released a watery defence on Ajaero’s unlawful arrest late Monday evening, explaining that the Labour Leader allegedly failed to honour his invitation order to their office to answer questions on the content of a petition against him.
“The security agency queried why Nígerians should rise in total condemnation of their atrocious acts while highly placed citizens in foreign lands can be quizzed and interrogated on allegations of crimes.
“The Nígeria secret police cited the case of former President Trump of the United States who is currently facing allegations of criminal charges in his country without indicting itself (the DSS) of having failed to interrogate and prosecute former military and civilian Nígerian rulers whose wicked and heinous regimes committed gross human rights atrocities, ear tingling corruption, murders and the likes.”
CLO also stated that another disturbing development, was the siege on the office of SERAP in Abuja by the same DSS.
Shockingly, like in Ajaero’s case, the sealing of the CLO office in 2009 and the invasion of NLC’s national office in Abuja, a few weeks ago, no warrant of arrest and search was issued on SERAP, Ezike recalled.
Ezike opined that the rising trend of gross violation of fundamental human rights and civil liberties of Nígerian citizens and lawful institutions since May 29, 2023, has become an issue of monumental concern to the Civil Liberties Organisation.
He said that from the questionable and unexplainable increases in the pump prices of Petroleum products — petrol, gas and kerosene — which occasioned astronomical hike in transportation costs, school fees, foodstuffs, house rents, electricity tariffs without corresponding augmentation in the starvation wages of workers across the country, the government has resumed a regime of vulgar acquisition of public wealth and hounding of human rights defenders and credible, transparent and legal institutions that can interrogate or resist such heinous perpetrations into detention, torture and extortion to cow Nigerians into submission like Joseph Desire Mobutu notoriously known and called “Sese Seko” of the Democratic Republic Congo, Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, Paul Biya of Cameroun, Omar Bongo Ondimba of Gabon, Francisco Marcia Nguema of Equatorial Guinea, Siad Barre of Somalia, Omar Al-Bashir of Sudan and killer Idi Amin Dada of Uganda did.
Ezike further said: “In the face of these grave threats, the onus lies on the CLO and co-human rights movements — both local and international, labour unions, men and women of conscience, Nígerians in Diaspora and the international community to rise to the occasion and diligently work to stem down this wilful conspiracy against our society and people. The time is now.
“It is regrettable that while bandits were kidnapping nurses and patients in a Kaduna hospital the same Monday, Tinubu agents and attack dogs were quizzing an armless and law-abiding NLC leader and invading SERAP’s office. What a shame and clear case of a failed state.
“The Civil Liberties Organisation condemns this impudent violation of human rights by Nigerian authorities and insists that Nígeria must be free and our people must have food in the midst of lavishing plenty to eat and their fundamental human rights which are attributes of accountable and constitutional democracy to enjoy.”
