Senator Adams Oshiomhole.
Senator Adams Oshiomhole, a former governor of Edo State, has disclosed that while serving as the president of the Nigeria Labour Congress, he was subjected to intimidation and physical violence from Department of State Services (DSS) agents.
Oshiomhole revealed this on Channels Television’s Politics Today. He described his experiences during the recent attack in Imo State on Joe Ajaero, the president of the NLC, which sparked an indefinite nationwide strike on Tuesday.
He claimed that the union had issued an ultimatum to the Olusegun Obasanjo government, which is why he was detained and barred from flying.
According to the former head of the National Labour Congress, the purpose of the ultimatum was to oppose any attempt to remove fuel subsidies due to the resulting rise in living expenses.
“I went to the airport on my way to Delta State and had a similar experience,” he remarked.
“The then director of SSS ordered that I should be arrested and stopped from travelling because we had given an ultimatum to the then Federal Government headed by President Olusegun Obasanjo.
“They dragged me on the tarmac, and I had my cuts all over the place. They forcefully prevented me from flying and took me back to the DSS director general’s office, then Col. Kayode Are.
“He offered to take me to their own hospital, and I said, ‘No, I can’t even trust a government that has inflicted this kind of wound on me to treat me. They might as well poison my blood.’ I said I wasn’t going to do that.”
“For at least 48 hours, the NLC couldn’t locate me. When eventually I was let out, the bandage on my arm with the blood and all that, I told my colleagues, ‘This blood would rather reinforce and whet my appetite for the struggle for justice,’” he added.