The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has raised an alarm over the arrest of the Chairperson of its Rivers State Council, Alex Agwanwor, by officers of the Nigeria Police Force, Alagbon Station, Lagos.

In a statement issued by the NLC Acting General Secretary, Benson Upah, the Congress said Agwanwor was whisked away around 9:00 pm on Thursday at the premises of the NLC sub-secretariat in Yaba, shortly after the National Executive Council (NEC) meeting.

According to Upah, eyewitnesses indicated that the arrest may be linked to internal disagreements within Agwanwor’s union, the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG).

He noted that the matter had earlier been discussed during the Central Working Committee (CWC) meeting held the same day, where it was resolved that a committee would be constituted to address the dispute.This, he said, made the arrest even more troubling and unacceptable to Congress.

“The Congress is similarly at a loss as to why the police would be used to settle intra-union disputes or disagreements without allowing Congress to resolve them,” he said.

Upah also condemned the manner of the arrest, describing it as a violation of established protocols.

“Congress is miffed by the conduct of the police, that is, by way of executing an arrest on its premises without protocol. Congress believes this is not only malicious in intent but violates all known civil protocols of arrest as well as constitutes a threat to peaceful labour–police relations,” he said.

The NLC demanded Agwanwor’s immediate release, warning that the use of police to intervene in internal trade union matters could have serious consequences for all parties involved.

“Further information will be communicated as events unfold,” Upah added. (The Guardian)

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