Labour wants military to name, try alleged coup plotters

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has urged the Nigerian Army to name and prosecute those allegedly inviting the military to scuttle democratic governance in the country.

Its president, Ayuba Wabba, in a statement yesterday in Abuja, said the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai, must go beyond the allegation by naming as well as arraigning the supposed masterminds at a competent court of law to serve as a deterrent to others who may wish to tow same line.

He said: “We call on the Chief of Army Staff to go beyond just informing Nigerians and cautioning those trying to derail our democracy. Rather, the armed forces, should at the appropriate time after concluding its investigation, identify the individuals involved, prosecute them in the relevant courts, and if found guilty, they should be given the appropriate punishment as deterrent to potentially ambitious adventurers.”

Wabba stressed that the organised labour was opposed to military incursions in politics. He observed that the advent of the armed forces on the political arena imposed the unitary system of government on the people, which he maintained, was instrumental to the under-development of the nation six decades after independence.

Wabba urged political actors at all levels to rededicate themselves for the betterment of the citizens. He also called on Federal Government to compose the tripartite committee on the new minimum wage as a parting gift to the longsuffering workers.