State chairman of Trade Union Congress, TUC, Comrade Igbokwe Chukwuma, who confirmed the arrest and incarceration of Ozoeze, condemned the action, saying the information got to them very late on Tuesday.
Chukwuma said: “However, we discussed it in our meeting and we are going to follow it up; we learnt he was arrested and tried within the state police CID and sent to prison; this is something we cannot take.
“We have met and decided to see the Attorney-General to register our protest; we are also in touch with the labour headquarters. So immediately after meeting with the Attorney-General we will take a position on that,” Igbokwe said.
Giving reasons organised labour in the state failed to hold the planned anti-fuel subsidy removal protest since Monday, Comrade Igbokwe said: “Since Monday, we’ve been on it; we woke up Monday morning to see that government had issued a proclamation banning gathering and protest in Enugu State.
“We looked at it as something very unfair; we tried to move like other states but policemen had been stationed in front of our secretariat, which is our meeting point and you see they have remained here all these days.
“Actually today we wanted to go to the streets again but we were restricted, we were even pushed; so we are saying that this is very unfair; what is happening in other states should happen in Enugu State.
This is a national issue it is not a State issue and Enugu State workers have not been associated with violence of any kind in all our demonstrations.”
Also speaking, state chairman of the NLC, Comrade Nze Chumaife, said the strike was still on in the state but lamented that “the police again tried to stop us and we challenged them and we have refused to be intimidated. We did what we can to show Nigerians that we are against removal of oil subsidy.”
“The civil society, students, unemployed youths, okada riders were all with us, and we thank God we were able to demonstrate our protest a little today. Prices of good have gone up, people are suffering, price of fuel has gone up to N200; and we have told our workers to disregard the propaganda by government that they should come to work; we can’t go to work, we are sCivil servants shun strike
Meanwhile, some civil servants have continued to report in their offices daily for fear of being sanctioned by the government.
A staff of Ministry of Education told Vanguard yesterday that workers’ salary was withheld last September when they went on strike over minimum wage and that labour never helped them to retrieve it till date hence their decision to shun the current strike.
”In Enugu, we don’t believe in the Labour,” he said, defending while they ignored calls for the national strike.
Apart from the banks, federal government agencies and some State Ministries that shut their offices, the subsidy strike in Enugu could be said to have flopped.
The Ogbete main market, New Market, Kenyatta and Artisan markets remained open since Monday while the traders continued to transact their businesses without molestation.
It would be recalled that the Chairman of Enugu Workers Forum, Comrade Osmond Ugwu, was imprisoned by the state government last year for leading workers in the state to protest the non-implementation of the N18,000 minimum wage by the government.
Ugwu was charged for attempted murder and subsequently remanded in Enugu Prison while his trial has continued to suffer setbacks” the NLC Chairman said.
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