You Perpetually Violate Court Order But Expect Us To Obey It – Labour Knocks FG

In an appearance on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily program on Wednesday, TUC President Festus Osifo criticized the government for “perpetually violating” court orders while holding other institutions accountable for following the law.

Osifo recalled that the Department of State Services (DSS) and the Federal Government had disregarded court orders to free Godwin Emefiele, the former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), from the custody of the secret police during his detention, which had lasted for approximately five months.

Yes, there is no service based on a court order, but the government we have now consistently disobeys court orders. How many court orders were passed to release Emefiele from the custody of DSS? Many of them, Osifo exclaimed in a rage during our morning program.

According to the labor leader, the unions will consult with their legal representatives and make a decision after they obtain a court order regarding the current strike.

“There is a state here that disobeys court orders. You now expect others to follow court orders, but when we observe it—as responsible institutions, we won’t say that it’s because the Federal Government consistently disobeys court orders—we will look into it and, if so, we will act accordingly.

Instead of working with the unions and resolving their complaints, Osifo chastised the government for constantly racing to court to get restraining orders to stop labor’s action. He claims that the government’s acquisition of court orders is not a good example of labor relations.

The Presidency and the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation had berated Labour for embarking on the indefinite action despite a “restraining order issued last week by Justice Benedict Backwash Kanyip of the National Industrial Court”, saying labour must respect court orders.

Labour embarked on nationwide strike on Tuesday to seek justice over an assault on NLC President, Joe Ajaero, in Owerri, the Imo State capital, on November 1, 2023 when he was about to lead a protest against alleged anti-labour practices by the Governor Hope Uzodimma-led administration.

Workers in several states joined the strike, shutting down activities at several government-owned facilities.

Public schools, state High Courts and State Houses of Assembly were shut while some banks in capital cities closed their doors to customers, who were left to do their transactions at the ATM terminals.

However, in some states, partial compliance trailed the industrial action as some workers continue their normal operations.

Osifo said those who brutalised his fellow labour leader in Owerri must be apprehended, describing the assault on Ajaero as “state-sponsored terrorism”.

“Ajaero is an individual but he represents an institution. NLC is an institution that is rooted in the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Today, for example, if you have the President of a country assaulted in another country, it will lead to even war.

“The people that brutalise him were led by the police and the police is a national institution, Since this as happened, there is no single statement from the Federal Government until yesterday (Tuesday). For us, it is fundamentally wrong,” he said.

“The Nigeria Police led the brutalization of Comrade Joe Ajaero. So, we want those people to be apprehended. We know their names, in fact, some of the people that led this work for the Imo State government. The Area Commander that led this must be apprehended, this is not difficult to achieve.

“When we started pushing all these, there was no single comment from the Nigerian state but since yester (Tuesday), we have been having some conversations. Once we progress on those conversations, and we see clearly that they are serious to bring these people to book, that they are serious to hold them to account, then, of course, we will let go.”

In the wake of the incident and days to the November 11, 2023 governorship poll in Imo State, the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, redeployed Mohammed Barde, the then Commissioner of Police in the state under whose watch the incident happened, and ordered an investigation into the assault on the NLC leader.

However, the TUC boss said the unions have no confidence in the probe by the IGP and called on the National Security Adviser (NSA) to lead the investigation.

“The office of the NSA should lead this investigation; it should not even be the Inspector General of Police because in this particular subject, we also feel that the IGP is compromised.

“So, let there be a team of DSS, a team of all the state agencies that is going to lead this investigation, because if you leave it only for the Inspector General of Police, I can tell you nothing is going to come forth because he was there that day in the state when this matter was even reported to them. They were all in Owerri. They were even in the same hotel with our comrades in Owerri, they did not swing into action, they knew clearly what has happened,” Osifo alleged.

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Tags: FG, NLC, TUC

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