The Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) has demanded an end to the massacre of unarmed protesters across the country by agents of the President Bola Tinubu-led Nigerian government.
The NLC made the demand on Saturday in a statement by its National President, Comrade Joe Ajaero, questioning the professionalism of Nigeria’s security personnel in managing protests by aggrieved Nigerians.
Ajaero said that if Nigerian security agencies and their personnel had deployed the same brutal precision they are unleashing on the #EndBadGovernanceInNigeria protesters against bandits and other criminals in Nigeria, the country would have been an Eldorado.
The NLC boss said, “With unconfirmed reports putting casualties at 40+ in two days of managing the EndHunger protest across the country, we have sufficient reasons (backed up by reports and video clips) to call into question the professionalism of our security personnel as this represents nothing but the massacre of citizens.
“Had the security personnel deployed the same thoughtless brutal precision against bandits or other criminals, our country would have been an Eldorado.
“As the lead agency in internal security management, the police bear the burden of this massacre.
“Kaduna State police command under the watch of Compol Audu Ali Dabigi represents the worst-case scenario in which one of the fleeing protesters was heard on camera desperately appealing to deployed police personnel to not shoot until his voice was drowned by a hail of bullets, resulting in the death of a protester on the spot and several injured.
“In the same breath, Edo State Police Command under the personal command of COMPOL Funsho Adegboroye represents the best in crowd management as he could be heard interacting and cajoling the protesters and almost effortlessly bringing them under control.
“It might be convenient to argue that the two states do have different socio-cultural milieu, however, an incontestable truth common to both, and indeed all the states, is that human life is sacred and should NEVER be taken.
“We are deeply saddened by this wanton taking of life by trigger-happy police personnel.
“In Asokoro, Abuja under the command of Compol Bennett Igweh, protesters were heard querying why the police were shelling or tear-gassing them as they were marching solemnly without breaking a twig.
“One noticeable pattern was that once police personnel introduced violence, all hell broke loose in fulfillment of the credo that violence begets violence.
“We pause to ask, what happened to all the years of training or experience? No lessons learned or was this a case of a loss of human values on an industrial scale? Don’t our police personnel watch their colleagues in other parts of the world manage equally challenging (if not worse) situations?
“For a start, we demand that the cops with blood stains on their hands be fished out for appropriate disciplinary action, along with their commanders.
“Secondly, adequate compensation should be paid to the families of casualties while the government should be responsible for the treatment and rehabilitation of the injured. Thirdly, all those arrested should be released immediately and unconditionally.
“We commend the NBA national leadership for directing its human rights committees across the cities to be vigilant. We urge them to see to it that no one is held against their will in connection with the protest.
“On no account again should the police use live ammunition in managing protests no matter how difficult they get.
“In the days ahead, we look forward to a better crowd control mechanism even as the new directive from the IGP would sound to some of the personnel as a license to kill without reason.
“We will be monitoring closely as the situation unfolds. The police, as the lead agency vested with power and authority on issues of internal security, should not only lead by a good example but be an inspiration to other services.
“However, if the police, in self-righteousness, consider this advice as meddlesomeness and persist in their slaughter, they will be unwittingly creating a situation they were supposed to help avert in the first place. And we, as members of organized labour, will be left with no choice but the moral burden to act in protection of ordinary citizens.
“Finally, we do believe the ultimate solution lies with the government, the decisions it takes, and the compromises it is willing to make in the face of the genuine demands of the protesters.
“As we had stated in our statements of July 22nd and 23rd, the clearest path to a lasting solution is for the government to sit down with leaders of the protest and negotiate in good faith.
“Time is of the essence as no one is impressed by the sophistry of government officials/hirelings or threats by the police or the military. We are all Nigerians, after all.”
