The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has advised the Federal Government to adopt the “carrot and stick” approach in dealing with the continued protests by members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) and avoid further loss of lives.
In a statement yesterday in Abuja, NLC President Ayuba Wabba said the use of carrot and stick approach to deal with the current situation is not a sign of weakness.
The statement reads: “We at the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) are deeply saddened by the destruction of private and public property, injuries and deaths that resulted from the confrontation between the police and members of the Shi’ite during the protest by the latter to press for the release of their leader from detention. These are highly regrettable and even avoidable.
“The bloody conflict would not be the first or second or even third that would be resulting from protests by members of the sect on the same matter that ended up in a stand-off with security forces. Neither would it be the last.
“However, it represented a determination of the members of the Shi’ite sect to press on with their demand and the sickening escalation of violence.
“It is also a painful manifestation of the fact that in the continued confrontation between the Shi’ite sect and security forces, either party is susceptible to casualty.
Read Also:
“The right to peaceful protest is guaranteed by the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and that right cannot be abridged by anybody. The exercise of this right, which the organised labour has routinely exercised in spite of occasional objections, has helped in strengthening our democracy in no small way. In fact, at the risk of sounding immodest, we at Labour have become the symbol of popular street protest in Nigeria.”
It added: “We call upon the government with every sense of responsibility and concern for our national security to deal imaginatively with the issue of El-Zakzaky whom it has kept in detention in defiance of a court order to release him from detention.
“We expect the government to be firm but flexible, use the stick and carrot approach. It is no sign of weakness.”
The Ekiti State chapter of pan-Yoruba socio-cultural and political organisation, Afenifere Renewal Group (ARG), has advised members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), also called the Shi’ites, to shun confrontational approach in demanding for the release of their detained leader, Ibraheem El-Zakzaky.
A statement yesterday in Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital, by the group’s National Publicity Secretary, Michael Ogungbemi, noted that though the protesters have the constitutional rights to peaceful protest, it is also a constitutional obligation and responsibility to do so within the ambit of the law.
The statement said: “The ARG hereby passionately appeals to their sponsors to sheathe their swords while the Federal Government finds a lasting solution to their demands.
“We are not oblivious of the incarceration of their leader, El-Zakzaky, but their unabated confrontational engagement would only exacerbate the situation. [THE NATION]
