The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has confirmed that its national headquarters in Abuja was invaded by security operatives, believed to be from the Department of State Services (DSS) and the Nigeria Police Force, on Wednesday night.
In a statement issued late Wednesday by NLC spokesperson Benson Upah, it was reported that the operatives arrested the on-duty security guards and forced them to hand over keys to the offices on the second floor. Subsequently, the operatives broke into the premises, ransacked the bookshop, and made off with hundreds of books and publications.
The NLC has condemned the invasion as illegal and a flagrant violation of democratic principles. The union has called for an international inquiry into the incident and demanded the return of the stolen materials.
The raid took place just hours after the NLC’s National Executive Council meeting, where members criticised the heavy-handed approach of security agents during the recent #EndBadGovernance protests. In response to the invasion, the NLC has instructed its staff to avoid the office until further notice and warned that continued harassment may result in a call for a broader stay-at-home directive to ensure the safety and security of its members.
The NLC’s statement read: “This evening at about 8.30 pm long after the close of work, a troop of heavily armed security operatives invaded the Labour House, Central Business District, Abuja, which serves as the National Headquarters and secretariat of the Nigeria Labour Congress.
“The security operatives, some from the Nigeria Police Force, some wearing black tee-shirts presumably from the Department of State Services and others in outright mufti, swooped on the 10th Floor of the NLC and arrested the security operative on duty and then commandeered him to the second floor where he was asked to produce the keys to the offices.
“When he told them that he had no such keys on him, they broke into the floor and ransacked the bookshop on the 2nd floor, carting away hundreds of books and other publications. The invading troops claimed that they were looking for seditious materials used for the #EndBadGovernance protests.
“The Nigeria Labour Congress condemns in its entirety this new low in security operations in Nigeria. The armed security operatives showed no legal document permitting them to invade the premises of the Nigeria Labour Congress in the ungodly hours of the night. Even in the dark days of military rule, NLC secretariats were never invaded and ransacked by security agents. Today is indeed a very sad day for our democracy.”
The NLC’s demand for an international inquiry and immediate return of the confiscated materials underscores the severity of the incident and the union’s commitment to defending democratic norms in Nigeria.
