The Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC has said workers are fully mobilized to go ahead with the protests planned to hold in Kaduna.
A statement by NLC president, Ayuba Wabba said, “We wish to use this opportunity to let the Governor and his cohorts know that our members from across the country are fully mobilised in Kaduna, and nothing, absolutely nothing, will stop them from peacefully protesting against his mindless policies on Thursday, November 11, 2018.
“We also wish to let the world know that he has made this peaceful protest inevitable by his refusal to fully submit himself to the conciliation process by the Federal Ministry of Labour.
The NLC statement reads in full: “We have credible information that the Governor of Kaduna State, Malam Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai has mobilised thugs to disrupt workers peaceful protest tomorrow.
“We also have information that the Commissioner of Police , Kaduna State Command has said all protests in the state remain banned.
We do not think he has such powers. Moreover, it would run against the grain of fair-play and proper policing if the Commissioner will be selective in which protests he allows because only recently, the Governor himself organised two protests in support of his policies in the state.
We do hope the statement credited to the Commissioner is not true.
We also do hope he does not condition his officers and men to allow their services to be procured in furtherance of a sinister agenda.
We not only warn against these desperate tactics, we feel duty-bound to draw the attention of the relevant authorities and the generality of Nigerians to the grave dangers these portend.
Peaceful protest is a form of expression validated or legitimised by our national constitution, ILO Conventions and and our Labour Laws and no Governor, no matter how executive, should abridge this legitimacy!
We at the Nigeria Labour Congress, and indeed, all law-abiding citizens consider any attempt to circumvent the Law by any citizen, no matter how highly-placed as an affront to our history of popular struggle and democratic values.
We wish to use this opportunity to let the Governor and his cohorts know that our members from across the country are fully mobilised in Kaduna, and nothing, absolutely nothing, will stop them from peacefully protesting against his mindless policies on Thursday, November 11, 2018.
We also wish to let the world know that he has made this peaceful protest inevitable by his refusal to fully submit himself to the conciliation process by the Federal Ministry of Labour.
We are in a democracy governed by the rule of law and not the caprice of a vindictive mind out to satisfy only the whims of the World Bank and the IMF.
Finally, we also wish to call upon the Inspector General of Police and the leaderships of other relevant security agencies to caution their officers and men against betraying their oath of office by accepting to do a dirty job.
Today, it is about 36,000 Kaduna State workers thrown out of work for no just cause. Tomorrow, it could be anybody.
We are committed to a peaceful protest. No stopping us now.
