APC, opposition clash over NLC secretariat invasion

Opposition parties in the country, on Thursday, condemned Wednesday’s raid on the Nigeria Labour Congress national headquarters in Abuja by security agents.

The According reports that the armed men, allegedly from the DSS, invaded the NLC office and carted away several documents.

According to the congress, the raid took place around 8:30 pm, with operatives reportedly breaking into the Labour House.

NLC’s Head of Media and Public Relations, Benson Upah, said the attackers ransacked the bookshop on the second floor, confiscating hundreds of books and other publications.

“The invading team claimed that they were searching for seditious materials allegedly used during the #EndBad Governance protests,” Upah said.

But the DSS spokesman, Peter Afunanya, denied the allegation.

“Please, kindly note that the Service (DSS) did not carry out any operation at the NLC office in Abuja,”Afunanya told The According.

Opposition parties, in separate interviews with The According, condemned the action,

But the ruling All Progressives Congress urged for restraint, saying it was too early to rush to a conclusion and start casting aspersions.

The PDP Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Ibrahim Abdullahi, characterised the action as an attempt to suppress the labour union.

“What happened yesterday is condemnable. As a party, we do not subscribe to that approach. Security agencies shouldn’t be deployed to go to institutions of the state, like the labour office, to ransack them and then suspect or blackmail them into sponsoring what you call a protest. Nigerians are entitled to their rights. Nigerians can see through them and through the government, and they have decided that they will go on the street.

“It is condemnable. As a party, we do not support it, and we see it as a further attempt to coerce the citizens and get them into silence. That is just the attempt or the decision of the APC,” the PDP chieftain said.

Similarly, the chief spokesman for the Labour Party presidential candidate, Yunusa Tanko, also condemned the action.

Tanko said, “The action of the security agencies is totally condemnable. No one needs to come into the NLC office in a commando style. These are people who are accessible to you. At any point in time, you can easily walk into the NLC office and issue them a warrant and say you suspect something is going on and you want to charge them if you find anything incriminating. So what is all this showmanship of barging into the NLC office unannounced and saying you are investigating some documents? These are respected union leaders, not criminals.”

Also condemning the invasion, the National Publicity Secretary of New Nigeria People’s Party, Ladipo Johnson, “One begins to wonder whether they are going back to the military days. One begins to wonder about their propensity to tolerate constructive criticism or protests, which is an aspect of democracy for that matter. It would seem that from Mr. President’s speech, he feels that the people do not understand. He hasn’t expressed that he will look again at some of his major policies that people believe have brought the economy to the stage it is at.”

Also, human rights lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN), described the invasion as a “shameful reminder” of the dark days of military dictatorship in a statement he personally signed on Thursday.

“For genuine democrats, it’s utterly regrettable that official actions in a democratic dispensation could be reminiscent of the atrocities that defined the dark days of military dictatorship.

“It is incontestable that it is illegal for security forces to invade the homes and offices of law-abiding citizens and corporate bodies under a democratic dispensation,” Falana said.

Also, the Civil Liberties Organisation described the invasion as “an egregious abuse of democratic principles,” in a statement by its  Executive Director, Ibuchukwu Ezike.

“We demand that the police return carted NLC property without delay and tender an apology to them for this flagrant and heinous act,” the CLO said.

However, the ruling APC called for calm, saying it was too early to start trading blame over the alleged invasion.

In an exclusive phone call, the National Publicity Director of the party, Bala Ibrahim,  said, “It is something that can be multidirectional and one thing leads to another. Unless and until you are able to get information from those who are investigating as to what prompted their action, you cannot just pre-empt and jump to a conclusion by saying a particular action is wrong.

“You don’t know from the angle they are coming. It might be some information given to them and, in their course of investigation and in an attempt to leave no stone unturned, they will invade premises, with a view to getting clues. One thing about crime is that no matter how smart you are, you always must leave behind something that will give clue to it. So that is the ugly side of crime.

“I think for now, it will be too early to jump to a conclusion and say action A or action B is wrong. It has to be after the investigators have been debriefed and got information with regard to what led to their action. Let’s not begin to paint political pictures, based on emotions and sentiments. We will be one-sided and wrong.”