DSS releases NLC president on bail, seizes passport

Joe Ajaero, president of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), has been released by the Department of State Services on administrative bail.

The Nigeria Labour Congress president who confirmed his release said he was grilled by the DSS for about 15 hours since his arrest around 7 am at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja before allowing him to go home around 11 pm on Monday.

Ajaero, however, said his travel passport was seized by the secret police.

The labour leader said though he was detained by the DSS, some police officers also came around to grill him at the DSS office in Abuja over the #EndBadGovernance nationwide protests that took place in August.

Ajaero said he was quizzed over alleged terrorism financing involving a British national, Andrew Wynne.

Ajaero was arrested by the DSS on his way to the United Kingdom on Monday for an official assignment. It was not clear why he was arrested.

The NLC had threatened to embark on nationwide protest if he was not released by midnight of Monday.

“We wish to categorically state that Comrade Ajaero has been detained without any legal warrant or formal instrument. Joe Ajaero is not a fugitive,” the NLC had said in a statement.

“His detention is therefore a brazen act of lawlessness and intimidation as he has not been declared wanted by any law enforcement body. His detention is a brazen act of intimidation and completely unjustified under the laws of our nation.

“The mere contemplation of not just stopping a lawful citizen from travelling but also sequestering his freedom is an affront to our democratic and natural rights as a people and as workers,” the statement read in part.