The Inspector General of Police, IGP Kayode Egbetokun, has ordered an investigation into the alleged assault on the President of the National Labour Congress, NLC, Comrade Joe Ajaero, in Imo State last week.

The IGP has deployed the Deputy Inspector General of Police, DIG, in charge of the Criminal Investigation Department, CID, of the Force to investigate the alleged assault.

In a statement on Friday, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, the spokesperson of the Nigeria Police, said Egbetokun has directed the DIG to take over the investigation of the alleged assault on the NLC President to ascertain facts surrounding the incident and to address any ambiguities that may exist.

The Force spokesman said this was because the Police had been inundated with different versions of the incident, making investigations imperative to clear the conflicting accounts.

“The Nigeria Police Force understands the importance of transparency and accountability in maintaining public trust,” Adejobi said.

“The IGP therefore assures the public, most especially the leadership of the organized labour, that a thorough and unbiased inquiry will be conducted to provide clarifications while urging organized labour and the public to remain calm, as he has personally intervened to address the issues surrounding this incident.

“The investigation has commenced, and the Nigeria Police Force guarantees that it will be followed to a conclusive end, and appropriate actions will be taken based on the findings of the investigation,” Adejobi concluded in the statement.

Ajaero, who had led some labour leaders from Abuja to Owerri, the Imo state capital, for protests against the state government over alleged non-payment of salaries to some workers, was attacked.

Ajaero claimed he was attacked by police officers from the Imo State Command, but the Imo State Commissioner of Police claimed it only took the labour leaders into custody when hoodlums attacked him.

In reaction to the attack, the NLC and other unions declared a total strike in Imo State with a threat to escalate the strike to the national level by next week if the police officers involved in the assault on the labour leaders were not punished