By Victor AhiumaYoung

The Precision, Electrical and Related Equipment Senior Staff Association, PERESSA, has described as untenable and unacceptable, the police explanation for its operatives’ invasion of the Labour House Abuja, the National Secretariat of Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, on Wednesday night, August 7, 2024.

PERESSA in a statement demanded for an independent and transparent panel of inquiry including representatives of the NLC and Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, TUC, as well as civil society and human rights community to investigate the raid.

The Association in the statement by its President and General Secretary, Rufus Olusesan and Dele Ojo, respectively, while condemning the raid, said it considered the invasion ”as a serious attack on the democratic rights of workers in the entire trade unions in Nigeria. We strongly hold that the search for a foreigner in bookshop as the reason given by the inspector General of Police for the invasion of labour House is untenable and unacceptable. We demand an immediate setting up of an independent and transparent panel of inquiry that will involve representatives of the NLC, TUC civil society and human rights community to investigate the raid.

PERESSA in solidarity with the NLC demands a public apology from the Federal Government and the Nigeria Police. We also demand that all damaged properties, the security agents perpetrated must be adequately returned, fixed, and compensated. We also demand that all books, publications, labour materials and others the security agents seized and damaged must be fully returned or replaced.

“As a union, we are convinced that this raid is tied to the #Endbadgovernance protest that took place in different parts of the country. The security agency attacks of the NLC Secretariat were apparently following suspicion of the NLC involvement in the protest. Of course, NLC didn’t take active participation in the action but called on the government to meet the demands of protesters and condemned the repression including killing and arrest of protesters.

“However, we are displeased with the Tinubu-led government that has imposed more economic hardship on workers and all Nigerian working people since the removal of the oil subsidy, floating and devaluation of Naira and other neo -liberal policies. We are also in support of the demands of the nationwide peaceful protest.

“This economic hardship on Nigerians is what led to the 10 – day protest in Lagos, Abuja, Oyo,Osun, Kano, Kaduna, Rivers and other parts of the federation . The costs of living, staple foods, and other commodities in the market have gone astronomically high. This is in spite of the government’s excuses that inflation has come down a bit. However, the protest disagrees with the government propaganda.

“For us as a union, we support the call for the reversal of petrol price and other anti-poor economic policies to the pre-May 29, 2023 price President Tinubu met it. Reversal of electricity tariff, improved living conditions and other demands that are related to what the two labour centres have been demanding. PERESSA also joins other unions to condemn the attacks on protesters across the country. We believe it is the constitutional rights of Nigerians to protest peacefully as enshrined in sections 38, 39, 40, 41, and 42 of the 1999 constitution amended.

“In PERESSA, we are equally using this medium to demand for the immediate release of all trade unionists, protesters, civil society activists, and other well-meaning Nigerians arrested and detained unlawfully in the course of the #EndBadGovernance protest and all trumped-up charges levelled against them must be dropped. We believe it is the right of Nigerians to associate, organize, and protest. Protest is a right and the federal government and the Police must respect it accordingly.”