NLC: DSS brutalised, detained me while in office – Oshiomhole

By Peters Monday, Abuja

Former Governor of Edo State, Adams Oshiomhole, has disclosed that he was once brutalised and detained by men of the Department of State Services (DSS) during his tenure as the President of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) between 1999 and 2007.

The senator who condemned the recent brutalisation of the President of the NLC, Joe Ajaero, in Imo State, had criticised the decision of organized labour to embark on a nationwide strike in response to the incident.

Speaking on Channels Television, Oshiomhole narrated his experience, adding, “I had a similar experience… I was on my way to Delta State, and I went to the airport. The then director of SSS ordered that I should be arrested and stopped from travelling because we had given an ultimatum to the then Federal Government headed by President Olusegun Obasanjo.

“They dragged me on the tarmac, and I had my cuts all over the place. They forcefully prevented me from flying and took me back to the DSS director general’s office — then Col. [Kayode] Are.

“He offered to take me to their hospital, and I said, ‘No, I can’t even trust a government that has inflicted this kind of wound on me to treat me. They might as well poison my blood.’ I said I wasn’t going to do that.”

The former governor noted that he ended up in detention for at least 48 hours after being “taken away” and expressed his determination to continue the struggle for justice.