Security agents on Wednesday night raided the Labour House
in the Central Business District of Abuja.
In a statement, Benson Upah, spokesperson of the Nigeria
Labour Congress (NLC), said the “invading troop claimed that they were looking
for seditious materials used for the #EndBadGovernance protests”.
Nigerians took to the streets on August 1 to rail against a
pervasive economic hardship. The demonstrations were billed to last for 10
days.
The protests degenerated into looting and vandalism in some
states.
Some protesters in Kano, Kaduna, Borno, Gombe and the
federal capital territory (FCT) were also seen waving foreign flags.
In a joint press briefing on Tuesday, the heads of security
agencies vowed to go after “sponsors” of the protests for “treasonable” and
subversive” offences.
Upah said the invasion of the NLC building in Abuja began at
about 8:30pm.
“Just this afternoon, the National Executive Council of the
NLC took note and vehemently condemned the highhanded manner that security
agents manhandled protesters in many parts of the country and the needless
bloodshed that ensued,” the statement reads.
“We also condemned the sweeping mass arrests of those
perceived to have led the protest. The NEC also frowned at the reckless use of
‘treason’ to describe the protest and demanded for moderation.
“What we did not see coming was the invasion of the Labour
House by masked men and heavily armed security operatives hours later.”
The statement added that the operatives arrested the NLC
guard 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 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 NLC said it has directed its staff to stay away from the
building until it is certain that there are no incriminating materials or
harmful substances “dropped in our offices by the invading operatives”.
Labour also said there is a deterioration of democratic
principles in Nigeria, and that there are attempts to turn the country into a
police state.
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