By Abiola Olawale
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has criticized President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for the arrest of the National President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Joe Ajaero, and the alleged invasion of the Abuja office of the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) by operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS).
Atiku, the 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), criticized Tinubu for allegedly exercising undue control over those criticising his administration.
According to him, the severity of the treatment endured by some Nigerians during Tinubu’s administration has become terrible.
It would be recalled that Ajaero was arrested in the early hours of Monday by the Department of State Service (DSS) at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
Few hours later reports emerged that some operatives of the DSS stromed the Abuja office of the SERAP.
Reacting via his official X handle, Atiku stated: “The escalating assault on civil society and the media by the Bola Tinubu administration are profoundly disturbing. The level of oppressive control now imposed surpasses even the harshest days of military dictatorship.
“The recent arrest of Mr. Joe Ajaero, President of the Nigerian Labour Congress, en route to an official event, epitomizes this regime’s relentless campaign to intimidate and subdue organized labour.
“Just days prior, security forces detained a journalist, only to later claim it was a grievous error. What if the outcome had been fatal?
“Now, Tinubu’s regime extends its repressive grasp to encroach upon @SERAPNigeria, an action that stands as a grave affront to our democratic values. This siege is anathema to the principles of freedom and justice.”
Atiku called on Tinubu to focus security efforts on terrorists and bandits, not civil society groups and organizations.
“Tinubu and his security apparatus must redirect their fervour and intimidation towards the actual perpetrators of violence — terrorists and bandits — who are inflicting immeasurable suffering upon the Nigerian people. -AA”
