The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has alerted the public to the invasion of its national secretariat in Abuja by armed security operatives, both in uniform and mufti.
Mr Joe Ajaero, NLC President said this in a text message sent to the group WhatsApp platform of Labour Correspondents yesterday, Wednesday August 7, in Abuja.
Ajaero said that the invasion of the Labour House was carried out at about 9 p.m.
“Comrades, armed security men, both in uniform and mufti, just invaded the Labour House in their numbers and were at the 10th Floor and 2nd Floor,” he said.
He alleged that they ransacked books in the bookshop, carrying all the materials into their van claiming that the materials were used to incite and organise the recent protest.
A Daily Trust report was more specific on the reason for the invasion, explaining that the police raided Labour House over allegations that members of the organised labour sponsored the #EndBadGovernance protest.
It was gathered that everyone in the building had left for their homes when the operatives stormed the building.
One of the labour leaders said he spoke on phone to one of the private security guards attached to the building and confirmed that the masked operatives with assorted rifles stormed there at about 10pm, adding that the guards told him that the operatives went directly to the 10th floor of the building where the office of the NLC President, Joe Ajaero, is located.
The official added that the guard confided in him that the masked operatives later came back to the second floor where some offices belonging to NLC are located.
When contacted, the Head of Information at NLC Headquarters, Benson Upah, told our correspondent that a statement would be issued to that effect shortly but he was yet to release the statement as at when filing this report.
Efforts to get official reaction from the Department of State Services (DSS) proved abortive as calls to the spokesman of the secret police, Peter Afunanya rang out.
He was yet to reply to a text message sent to him as at the time of this report at about 11:15pm yesterday.
It would be recalled that hundreds of Nigerians had on Thursday August 1 hit the streets in some states and the Federal Capital Territory to protest against rising cost of living in the country.
However, the protest took a different dimension when some persons started calling for regime change.
Russian flag was flown in different parts of the country, forcing President Bola Tinubu to summon heads of security agencies to Aso Rock, where he ordered them to crack down on those threatening democracy in Nigeria.
After the directive, the DSS and other security agencies conducted a series of raids and arrested dozens of persons.
