"Why Soldiers Seen At NLC, FG Negotiation Venue", Army Opens Up

• The Nigerian Army has explained the reason soldiers were seen at the office of the SGF, the negotiation venue between the NLC and the federal government
• According to the military, the soldiers were escorts of the national security adviser, who will also be part of the negotiation team
• The army then the alarm earlier raised by the NLC and described it as a total false and misinformation from the side of the organised labour

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FCT, Abuja - The Nigeria Army has dismissed the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) claim that it has mobilised soldiers to the venue of the negotiation between it and the federal government.

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The military said the presence of soldiers at the venue was not to intimidate anyone but because they escorted the national security adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, who will also be attending the meeting.

Why soldiers found at SGF office

According to the military, there was no plan to intimidate the leadership of the organised labour as speculated by the NLC.

In a statement on its tweet on Monday, June 3, the army said the alarm raised by the NLC was totally false and urged the public to disregard it.

The statement partly reads:

"Kindly note that the NSA, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, who is also attending the meeting, arrived at the meeting venue with his retinue of statutorily approved military escorts. Once the meeting is over, the escorts will lead the NSA from the venue.

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"Kindly disregard the deliberate and misleading falsehood being peddled about the presence of the escorts at the meeting."

NLC threatened FG over military presence

In a statement earlier, the NLC raised the alarm about the presence of soldiers at the meeting venue, threatening to resist any intimidation from the government.

The unions maintained that threatening the union leaders would worsen the situation as their strike commenced on Monday, June 3.

See the military statement here:

Workers stop hajj pilgrims

Legit.ng earlier reported that the NLC and TUC strike had stopped over 60,000 Muslims from performing their religious rites as aviation workers joined the industrial action.

The protesting workers blocked the planes' paths at the international airports across the country and forced airlines to return to Saudi Arabia empty.

Professor Ishaq Akintola, the executive director of MURIC, urged the workers to suspend the strike immediately and allow Muslims to exercise their spiritual rights.

Source: Legit.ng