The Department of State Services (DSS) has arrested the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero.

Ajaero was arrested at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Aiport in Abuja, on Monday on his way to the United Kingdom for an official assignment, the NLC said.

NLC’s Head of Information, Benson Upah, confirmed the arrest on Monday, September 9, 2024 to Kristina Reports in Abuja.

The NLC President was billed to attend the Trade Union Congress conference in London, United Kingdom, which begins today.

Upah said the union does not know where Ajaero had been taken but he had sent a message saying it was the DSS that arrested him.

In a statement it released later, the union confirmed that Ajaero had been detained, an action it described as a brazen act of lawlessness and intimidation.

“We wish to categorically state that Comrade Ajaero has been detained without any legal warrant or formal instrument. Joe Ajaero is not a fugitive.

“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.