The Imo State Government has denied involvement in the arrest of the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Comrade Joe Ajaero.
This was said in a statement released on Wednesday by Hon. Declan Emelumba, Commissioner for Information and Strategy.
He said that people levelling accusations against the administration were recurring troublemakers who consistently raised false alarms.
Remember that in a joint statement, the secretaries of the NLC and TUC, Emmanuel Ugboaja and Nuhu Toro, said that the governor of Imo State, Hope Uzodimma, had plotted with the state’s police commissioner, Muhammad Barde, to have Joe Ajaero arrested in the state capital, Owerri.
In response to the accusation, Emelumba said that the state government had nothing to do with it and that mischievous people were to blame.
The Commissioner recalled that the purported strike action in the state had been stopped by the National Industrial Court in Owerri, which makes the planned action illegal.
The Commissioner also noted that it complied with the court order and that the Imo State chapter of the NLC announced that it was pulling out of the strike.
He wondered what Ajaero was doing in Owerri in defiance of the order of the court, which warned of severe consequences against disobedience.
He said information at the disposal of the government indicated that there might have been a fiasco between lawful workers of Imo State and lawless invaders from Abuja, which led to police intervention to maintain the peace.
Emelumba stated categorically that the state government has no hand in the arrest since it believes in the rule of law.
