The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), backed by civil society groups, has announced intention to organise a nationwide protest over escalating insecurity, killings and abductions of school children and Nigerians across the country.
Joe Ajaero, president of the NLC, announced this decision during at the opening of the National Executive Council (NEC) of the congress, Thursday, at Yaba, Lagos, noting the Nigerians have endured enough, and it was time to put a stop to the killings by criminal bandits and terrorists having a field day in different parts of the country.
Ajaero specifically mentioned the recent abduction of school children in Kebbi State, and the alleged withdrawal of soldiers said to have been stationed around the school moments before the abductors struck, describing this as unacceptable.
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“We are going to declare nationwide protests of mourning to demand to demand and end to the killings. We will also demand to know who ordered the withdrawal of soldiers before the Kebbi school children were abducted,” Ajaero, said at the NEC meeting. He did not specify the date of the protest, but said it would be communicated at the end of the NEC meeting.
The NLC president also warned politicians against overheating the polity, or giving an opportunity to undemocratic forces to strike. He said the labour movement had in the past fought undemocratic forces to a standstill.
“If you lose today, you can win tomorrow. Therefore, don’t burn the house,” Ajaero said, referring to politicians.
He also announced the withdrawal of all NLC members serving in different committees of the Labour Party (LP) both of Julius Abure and Nenadi Usman- led factions. He said the decision was necessary to enable the labour movement restrategise the way forward for the Labour Party ahead of the 2027 general elections.
He equally called on the federal government to respect all agreements freely entered into with various unions, pointing particularly to those of Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and unions in the nation’s health sector.
Speaking also at the meeting, Femi Falana, lawyer and senior advocate of Nigeria, tasked the labour and civil society groups to jointly mobilise Nigerians to demand that President Bola Tinubu puts an end to killings, kidnappings and demand for ransom by criminal gangs across Nigeria.
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“We do not want Trump to invade the country. That’s why the Bola Tinubu-led federal government must protect the citizens from the killers. We must let the world know that we are not a conquered people,” Falana said, just as he warned against reducing the killings in the country to “Christian genocide”, as portrayed by President Donald Trump of the United States of America.
