Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar on Tuesday blasted the Federal Government over the treatment meted out to the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero, and the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) by the Department of State Services (DSS).
DSS operatives on Monday morning arrested Ajaero at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, while traveling to the United Kingdom for an official assignment.
The same day, the secret police officers laid siege to the SERAP office in Abuja.
The DSS officers stormed the organisation’s office and demanded to meet with the directors.
The invasion of the SERAP office came just 24 hours after it urged President Tinubu to reverse the latest hike in fuel pump price.
In a statement posted on his verified X account on Tuesday, the former Vice President lamented that the level of oppressive control under former President Bola Tinubu’s watch “surpasses even the harshest days of military dictatorship.”
He charged the president to focus security efforts on terrorists and bandits, not civil society.
“The escalating assault on civil society and the media by the Bola Tinubu administration are profoundly disturbing. The level of oppressive control now imposed surpasses even the harshest days of military dictatorship.
“The recent arrest of Mr. Joe Ajaero, President of the Nigerian Labour Congress, en route to an official event, epitomizes this regime’s relentless campaign to intimidate and subdue organized labour.
“Just days prior security forces detained a journalist only to later claim it was a grievous error. What if the outcome had been fatal?
“Now, Tinubu’s regime extends its repressive grasp to encroach upon @SERAPNigeria, an action that stands as a grave affront to our democratic values. This siege is anathema to the principles of freedom and justice.
“It is imperative that Tinubu and his security apparatus redirect their fervour and intimidation towards the actual perpetrators of violence — terrorists and bandits — who are inflicting immeasurable suffering upon the Nigerian people.”
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