Ugo Nosiri, Owerri.
Operatives of the Imo State Police Command have arrested three executive members of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, in the state.
The NLC officials were said to have been arrested at the Imo State Secretariat on Wednesday while monitoring the level of compliance by the state civil servants on the two-day nationwide warning strike.
A member of the NLC caretaker committee in the state, Comrade James Chukwudi, who was among those arrested disclosed that the Imo State Head of Service, Mr. Raymond Ucheoma, molested them at the gate of the secretariat and ordered for their arrest.
Comrade Chukwudi said he was arrested alongside the state secretary of the Congress and the state secretary of the women committee
“But everybody knows the NLC is on a two-day nationwide warning strike, and part of our job is to monitor the level of compliance of the people involved, and that was what we were doing.
“We were at the Imo State Secretariat gate when a team of policemen in Hilux stopped and arrested us. They took us to the police station in New Owerri,” he said.
When Ikengaonline contacted the acting NLC chairman in the state, Comrade George Ofoegbu, he confirmed the incident, noting that he was among the team that went on that monitoring but he escaped being arrested.
“We embarked on monitoring today at the state secretariat. We did not force anybody to join the strike, or compel anyone to join. We were at the gate of the secretariat when the head of service accosted us, harassed us, intimidated us. It is better imagined than experienced,” he decried.
Comrade Ofoegbu accused the head of service of carting away three of the phones and the hand bag of one of their team members.
The NLC chairman narrated that he immediately went to the Commissioner of Police CP Mohammed Barde to report the matter and he immediately called for the release of the arrested members.
He used the medium to commend the Commissioner of Police in the state, for his kindness and swift response.
“I explained the development to the CP; before me, he ordered the DPO of the New Owerri police station to release those comrades with immediate effect. That man is a good man. An error free man,” he eulogized.
On the contrary, the Imo State Head of Service, Mr. Raymond Ucheoma, while speaking to Ikengaonline said those arrested went beyond the limit of mere monitoring.
Mr. Ucheoma accused them of invading the secretariat and looting two offices and extorting money from unsuspecting civil servants.
He added, “they are impostors parading themselves as NLC officials. They invaded the secretariat and carted away some valuables including money. Two offices were looted and workers harassed and extorted of their money.
