The Nigeria Labour Congress says it will not succumb to the blackmail of the Department of State Services (DSS), insisting that the planned protests against the prevailing economic hardship in the country will go ahead.
Since Monday, the organised labour has been mobilising its members for a nationwide protest slated for February 27 and 28 over the historic hardship in the country.
However, the DSS spokesman, Peter Afunanya, in a statement on Wednesday urged the union to shelve the plan in the interest of peace and public order.
The Secret police asked the union to pursue dialogue and negotiation rather than engage in conduct that could heighten tensions.
But reacting, the NLC President, Joe Ajaero, in a statement he personally signed on Wednesday evening, stressed that the protests will hold.
He also wondered why the DSS had yet to arrest those it claimed were planning to hijack the protests.
Ajaero said, “We are concerned by the unsolicited advice of the Department of State Security to shelve our planned protest against the unprecedented high cost of living despite the indescribable suffering in the land, spiralling inflation, deepening poverty and the Naira at an exchange rate of N1,900 to the US Dollar,
“According to the Service, the planned protest should be shelved ‘in the interest of peace and public order’, pre-supposing that the action is intended to be violent and disruptive even when we have a history of peaceful protests’.
“More worrying is the new role the Service has assigned to itself, the chief spokesperson of the government.
“We are equally worried that although the “Service is aware that some elements are planning to use the opportunity of the protest to foment crisis and by extension, widespread violence and yet have not executed the arrest of these elements.”
He added that the protests would be peaceful and that the NLC will not compromise the sovereignty or security of the country.
“We are equally intrigued by the innuendos of the Service, their philosophy of “peace” and wild allegations and we want to reassure them that no one loves this country more than us and on our honour, we would never do anything that will compromise its sovereignty or security.
“Having said this, we would not have ourselves blackmailed or lied against by the Service. Our protest is a peaceful one against the unpardonable cost of living of which the unserviced personnel of the Service are also victims.
“We cannot fold our hands and pretend all is well. That will be a grievous conspiracy that history will not forgive,” the NLC President said.
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