The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has warned the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, to stick to the dictates of his job and steer clear of trade union affairs, saying they were clearly beyond the purview of his power to mediate upon.
The NLC President, Comrade Joe Ajaero, said this in a statement issued on Sunday, August 13, 2023.
Ajaero noted that with the rising rate of crime and insurgency in the country, the IGP should be more concerned with deploying the energy he was excerting on labour matters which were not under his jurisdiction, to combating the insecurity challenges that were confronting Nigerians.
He said: “We want to warn the IGP to thread with caution and stop meddling in affairs that are clearly beyond the purview of his powers. If he receives a complaint against any trade union that is carrying out their legitimate duties, the norm is to refer such matters to the federal ministry of Labour who have the statutory powers to intervene or apprehend such matters for arbitration but not to begin to hunt the leaders with the intention to harass and intimidate or frighten them to submit to whatever their wishes may be.
“The Federal Government which the IGP serves must insist on the prevalence of the Rule of Law and desist from any action that hinders the free operation of the levers of democracy thus capable of scuttling the nation’s democracy, especially at this time when the nation seems to be walking through a minefield.
“The IGP must subject every of his activities to our Laws and should avoid using same for the purposes of achieving some clannish or narrow objectives that are not acceptable within the rarefied atmosphere of democracy.
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“Nigerian workers will not fold our hands and watch the actions of the IGP scuttle the democratic culture which we have all made huge sacrifices for and worked hard to enthrone. We will not allow the emergence of the rule of the powers of brigandage over the powers of Social Dialogue.
“We will not allow the prevalence of the powers of brute force over the powers of sane and reasonable engagement. We will not allow the continued diminution of our nation and the remaining sound terrains that have kept us together as a people and as a country.
“The IGP should quickly hands-off from this unwarranted interference and allow other relevant institutions that are also creatures of the Law to take charge of their responsibility unless he has been able to comprehensively deal with his major responsibilities and now seek to help other agencies of government discharge theirs. It is better he keeps to the dictates of his job and allow others stick to theirs. What he is doing is not helpful to Nigeria but can only be self-seeking or an attempt to satisfy some other interests.
“We would not know why the burgeoning crime rate does not bother the Police neither does ridding our cities of crime infestations seem to be any worry to it rather than chasing trade union leaders for incarceration.
“It is important that he should focus more on his job than this interference. If nothing is done to stop this, Nigerian workers may be forced to resume work daily in all Police Stations around the country.
“We will demand the repayment of the cost incurred by the National Union of Road transport Workers (NURTW) as result of the actions of the IGP if we are forced to resume at the Police Headquarters and Posts around the country.
“Nigeria belongs to all of us and as major stakeholders, we are worried that these actions may further heat up the polity and cause greater disaffection amongst the citizenry. The civic space belongs to the people and attempting to scuttle it rings the alarm bells. We strongly frown at this and seriously want this present harassment and intimidation of trade union leaders to stop forthwith. This is unacceptable!”
