Protest: Labour Raises The Alarm Over Alleged Plot To Attack Members

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) warned that it had uncovered an alleged plot to infiltrate and violently disrupt its planned nationwide protest and mourning today, saying any attack on peaceful demonstrators would amount to terrorism.

In a statement signed by its acting general secretary, Comrade Benson Upah, the congress said it received credible intelligence pointing to moves by unnamed agencies and political actors to deploy armed thugs to attack protesters, create chaos and justify violent repression.

The NLC stated that it had formally notified security agencies, including the police, and emphasised that citizens’ constitutional right to peaceful assembly must be protected.

The labour centre said the protest was organised in response to worsening insecurity across the country, marked by killings, kidnappings and mass abductions affecting workers and communities nationwide.

It stated that the action was intended as a peaceful expression of collective grief and a demand for accountability from authorities over their failure to safeguard lives and property.

The congress called on workers, students, traders and other citizens to remain calm, disciplined and peaceful during the protest, urging them not to be intimidated or provoked. It stressed that solidarity and restraint were essential to prevent any attempt to hijack the demonstration.

The NLC also issued a strong warning that it would escalate its response if protesters were harmed. It said its National Executive Council had resolved to shut down the country through an immediate and indefinite nationwide strike should any worker or citizen be attacked in the course of the protest.

“We have received credible and disturbing intelligence from our networks within the communities that there is a clandestine move by some unscrupulous agencies and desperate political hirelings to infiltrate and violently disrupt the peaceful National Day of Protest and mourning organised by workers,” the statement said.

“Let this be understood by those who occupy the corridors of power and the purveyors of violence that the Congress is now officially aware of their plot to use armed thugs to attack peaceful protesters, cause mayhem, and create a pretext for violent repression,” it added.

“We issue a stern and final warning to the purveyors of this act: desist immediately. Any attack on peacefully protesting workers will be considered a direct declaration of war on the entire Nigerian working class and its allies,” the congress said.

“Should a single worker, comrade, or citizen be harmed by these thugs or through escalated repression tomorrow, the Nigeria Labour Congress will not hesitate to declare an immediate, comprehensive, and indefinite nationwide strike,” the statement said.