Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma has broken silence on the brutal attack on Joe Ajaero, the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) president, during a union protest in the state.

Ajaero was arrested by the Imo State Police Command on Wednesday while leading a protest in the state capital, Owerri.

However, the police said he was only “rescued from a mob and put in protective custody.”

The NLC later vowed to mobilise its members in the state for a total strike in protest of Ajaero’s arrest.

Reacting, the governor has accused Ajaero of interfering in the state’s politics.

Uzodimma made the accusation on Thursday after receiving the All Progressives Congress (APC) flag from President Bola Tinubu at the Aso Rock Villa in Abuja.

“The National President of the NLC is from Imo State and has not been able to demarcate the difference between being a national leader of an organisation and then an interested party in local politics,” Uzodimma said.

The governor’s accusation comes after the NLC accused him of conspiring with the Imo State Commissioner of Police, Muhammed Barde, to “abduct” Ajaero.