NLC to Govt: Don't Silence Protesters, Respect Their Rights

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has issued a stern warning against any attempts to stifle Nigerians' fundamental right to freedom of expression, particularly in the face of the upcoming nationwide protests.

The NLC emphasizes that citizens' right to peaceful assembly and expression of their views must be respected and protected.

The Labour Body in their statement on Monday however urged the government to engage the protesters and those leading them constructively, rather than resorting to measures that could undermine citizens’ rights to voice their grievances.

While emphasising on the plight of Nigerians, The labour union also called on President Bola Tinubu to listen to the ir cries over hunger and widespread hardship in the country.

President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC )Joe Ajaero, says it is best to tackle such if President Bola Tinubu invites the leaders of the planned protest for a dialogue.

Recall that Nigerians have been mobilised to start nationwide protests on August 1, under the hashtags #TinubuMustGo and #Revolution2024.

The Presidency, however, described such calls as treasonable, as it also accused the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, and his supporters of spreading the hashtags.

In a lengthy tweet published on his X account on Saturday, the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, alleged that the sponsors of the protests were not democrats but anarchists.

“If they understand the meaning of their hashtags, they will realise they are clarion calls for treason. Wanting to end an elected government is high treason. Wanting revolution is a call for a coup d’etat, which is also high treason,” the presidential aide said.

The NLC, however, said the government should not engage in a “war-war” situation with Nigerians but to negotiate.

In a statement on Monday, the NLC President, Joe Ajaero, said, “As the date for the widely reported national protest looms, the Nigeria Labour Congress urges President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to invite the leadership of the protest movement for discussions on their grievances.

“The truth is that millions of Nigerians are angry about the state of the national economy. A situation where most Nigerian families are forced to eat one miserable meal a day and eating from the dustbin beckons for serious intervention by the government.”

Ajaero referenced a recent country living standards index assessment by the National Bureau of Statistics, which established that about 133 million Nigerians lived below the extreme poverty line.

He said, “When this statistics is added to the millions that are being recruited into the armies of the unemployed and under-employed Nigerians, one can easily situate the hardship, pain, frustrations and despair that many Nigerians are going through right now.

“The truth is that Nigerians have been hard pushed and super-pressed right against the walls of deep deprivation and acute want.

“It is, therefore, condescending and dismissive to describe the daily brutish ordeal that Nigerians are going through as a sponsored political dissent.”

Additionally, the Federal Capital Territory Commissioner of Police, Bennett Igweh, has urged residents and indigenes to refrain from participating in the upcoming nationwide protest, advising them to avoid engaging in any activities that could potentially disrupt peace and stability in the area.

The FCT police boss, spoke with ndwsmen in Abuja, on Monday, called on the residents to shun the protest.

Igwe noted that the police had made significant efforts to ensure security in the FCT, adding that the protest could jeopardise it.

“I want to appeal specifically to the residents and indigenes and everybody that is in FCT. Please, lions do not destroy their dens. You cannot see a lion that destroys its den, no. I would not like you to join this protest. I plead with you because we have suffered to ensure your safety.

“We have fought those people outside Abuja, we have been to Kaduna, Nasarawa, Niger to fight them (criminals), so that you can be safe. I have lost men. Last week alone in Gidango, I lost two policemen. The other day, I lost two again. Let our loss pay for the protest. I want to plead with you.

“We don’t need you to be in the streets before somebody will say he is trying the police might. Or you will say, you will do this, you will do that. Please, please, don’t destroy where you are living.”

Igweh added that the government was doing its best by providing good roads among others.

He said, “If you check, the government has provided good roads. Whether it’s from the Minister of the FCT or the President, check the roads in FCT. From Wuse to anywhere you can check, even in the hinterlands.

“They are trying their best. I don’t need to talk to anybody, but I’m saying it because we have been in the FCT. We know when there are changes. There are changes now in FCT.

“And we don’t want miscreants to come from outside the FCT and start destroying them. We will go back to square one where we were before. I plead, I beg of you, do not join this protest.” He pleaded.