Breaking: DSS releases NLC president, Ajaero, on bail

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

He was released at 11.10pm on Monday, according to one of the officials of the NLC quoted by Vanguard.

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.

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