Abuja, September 9, 2025 – The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has declared that its President, Comrade Joe Ajaero, remains “unbowed, unshaken and unbroken” one year after his controversial arrest and detention by state authorities.
In a strongly worded statement on Tuesday, the union marked the anniversary of Ajaero’s September 9, 2024 arrest at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, describing the incident as “a day etched in infamy in Nigeria’s democratic journey.”
The NLC said Ajaero’s detention, which followed earlier abduction and brutalisation in Owerri, was part of a broader campaign of political repression against workers and the poor. The government had accused him of cybercrime, conspiracy, and treason over a protest the NLC insists it did not organise, though it condemned the “mindless and disproportionate use of violence” deployed against demonstrators.
“The State sought to silence the truth, shield the elites from scrutiny, and isolate Nigerian workers from global solidarity by stopping our President from attending the UK Trade Union Congress conference,” the statement signed by Acting General Secretary, Benson Upah, read.
According to the NLC, the arrest only strengthened labour’s resolve. “Every attack on the working class only fuels our determination to fight. Far from weakening us, it exposed the anti-worker character of the Nigerian State,” it said.
The union called on workers, youths, peasants, and progressive forces to intensify resistance against policies such as subsidy removal, privatisation, wage suppression, and tariff hikes, which it described as anti-people.
“As we remember September 9, 2024, we reaffirm that the working class is the backbone of democracy and social justice. Attempts to silence us will always fail,” the NLC declared.
The organisation stressed that labour activists are not troublemakers but “patriotic citizens committed to building a Nigeria that works for all.”
