A group, Resource Centre for Human Rights and Civic Education (CHRICED), has thrown its weight behind the ongoing workers’ action, calling on labour leaders not to leave the quest for justice in the hands of the law enforcement institutions alone.
The advice is coming on the heels of the assault on the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) President, Comrade Joe Ajaero in Imo state, South east Nigeria.
CHRICED Executive Director, Comrade Ibrahim Zikirullahi, in a press conference in Abuja on the state of the nation, said workers must collect all available evidence and proceed to courts within and outside Nigeria to ensure those involved in the assault on the NLC President are held accountable.
Zikirullahi who was represented by the Programs & Communications Manager, CHRICED, Armsfree Ajanaku, said for those partisan actors who have been attempting to justify and rationalize the savage assault on Comrade Ajaero in Imo state, stressing: “Our message is clear – those who condone violence because it serves their purposes will someday taste their own medicine.”
According to him, the most important lesson from the assault on Comrade Ajaero is that labour leaders, human rights advocates, and defenders should henceforth take responsibility for their own security.
“Long gone are the days in which people should put their expectations solely on the government for security. The activities of shadowy non-state actors, which are acting on behalf of certain figures in government is now one of the biggest threats to civil liberties.
“The civil society must be wary of these clear and ever-present threats in the country. CHRICED uses this medium to wish Comrade Ajaero speedy recovery,” he said.
On the state of the economy, he said CHRICED believes that the most pertinent and crucial point to begin this briefing is to focus on the terrible economic hardships that the people of this country face daily.
According to him, contrary to what government officials would have us believe, the people of this country are reeling from the severe pains and anguish of the administration of Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s many harsh, unkind, and economically draining policies.
“So far, nothing has changed to ameliorate the utter disaster of the former President Muhammadu Buhari’s regime, which Tinubu’s government is an extension. And it appears to us that the incumbent President and his team have been hell bent on using Nigerians as guinea pigs for experimentation in voodoo economics since taking office on May 29, 2023,” he said.
