Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, Kaduna State Council, has raised an alarm over continued trespass and harassment of its staff at the uncompleted secretariat of the union located at No. 9 Lafia Road, Kaduna.
NLC on Monday expressed that it observed with dismay the incessant trespassing into their land and constant harassment of their staff and members by agents of contracting firm it engaged for the building of the secretariat.
Addressing journalists, chairman of the union, Comrade Ayuba Magaji Suleiman, and secretary, Christiana J. Bawa, together with former leaders of the union lamented the actions which they said had become unbearable, warning agents the perpetrators to desist or face actions.
“The meeting of NLC stakeholders held Monday, 30 December, 2019, which was well attended by past leaders of NLC, industrial unions, Joint Negotiation Council, including present leaders as aforementioned, was exhaustive.
“The confusion surrounding NLC landed property at No. 9 Lafia Road, Kaduna, was exhaustively discussed and resolved that the Kaduna Council should draw the attention of the state government in particular, the law enforcement agencies and general public to the illegal activities of some individuals on its property on the above address.
“It should be noted that sometimes in the year 2015, the NLC, Kaduna State Council, engaged a private developer – Sahel Technical Services Ltd – with a view to develop its land at the said location.
“While these arrangements were being made to concretise the memorandum of understanding for the project, we got to know that Sahel Technical Services Ltd engaged a third party, TMDK, for the project. This was done clearly without the consent of the Principal party to this project, NLC,’ the statement said.
According to the chairman, “While efforts were being made to sort out some of these emerging issues, we observed the incessant trespassing into the said land and constant harassment of our staff and members by the agents of Sahel and TMDK.
“Following these unimaginable behaviours of Sahel Technical and TMDK, NLC became uncomfortable about the whole issues. Accordingly, we had cause to write Sahel Technical Services Ltd of our decision to discontinue the project and to vacate the site forthwith.
“Despite making our position known to the concerned, our members and staffs are continually being harassed by agents of these entities.
“As law abiding organisation, we wish to unequivocally warn these trespassers to desist from their actions, otherwise the NLC will be compelled to take necessary measures as the rightful owners of the land.
“We also call on Kaduna State government to wade into the matter for a peaceful settlement to avoid the consequences of the matter snowballing,” he stated.
The union equally called on the Commissioner of Police, Department of State Services, DSS, and other law enforcement agencies to join hands to secure the property from the trespassers.
