The Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige has said he and his neighbours are considering taking legal action against the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) for blocking their houses during a protest.
The minister said blocking his house was an infringement on his fundamental human rights and that of his household as they were all traumatized.
KanyiDaily had reported how the NLC took a protest to Ngige’s Asokoro, Abuja residence, over his failure to inaugurate the board of National Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) with Frank Kokori as the chairman.
Some NLC members were attacked by suspected thugs allegedly hired by the minister who inflicted various degrees of injury on them during the protest.
Speaking with State House correspondents on Thursday at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, Ngige denied the allegations of attacks, saying that reports he read in the dailies were unfortunate and misleading.
Ngige said that NLC members arrived at his resident at 4:30 am in the morning and that when the security people accosted them, they discovered that it was the president of the NLC himself that came physically with two tankers, one laden with petrol and one half-full.
The minister said he immediately contacted the FCT commissioner of police and the director of SSS as well the FRSC to see if the tankers could be removed.
He added that his findings showed that the NLC members were attacked by the thugs they hired over some disagreements. He added:
“They put one at the gate of my house and put the other one at the gate of the other house which happens to be that of my neighbour.
“People in that compound were traumatised; some of the cooks and policemen who have quarters were traumatised.
“It cannot be quantified. Even my neighbours, the husband and wife and their children could not do their business yesterday.
“Those tankers were removed around 6.O’clock or so; it is quite unfortunate.
“My neighbour said they would take legal action; me also. It is an actionable thing; illegal actions are actionable. Nobody is above the law.”
He said it was all about NLC’s contention on the composition of the NSITF board and its inauguration.
The minister said that April 18 was earlier fixed for the inauguration, 18th of April but the union invaded the place with the same thugs and disrupted the function.
He said the event was postponed and a new date was going to be fixed but NLC had been maligning his character and integrity because he was the Labour Minister.
