Army denies involvement in labour meeting

The Nigerian Army has refuted claims made by the Nigeria Labour Congress that soldiers were surrounding the venue of the ongoing meeting between the leadership of the organised labour and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation

In a short statement by the Army Headquarters on its X handle on Tuesday night, it emphasised that the allegations were false and misleading.

After arriving at the meeting, the Nigeria Labour Congress in a post on its X handle, complained about the presence of soldiers at the meeting venue.
The NLC said, “Soldiers are presently sorrounding the venue of the meeting between Labour and Government at the premises of the SGF.”

However,  according  to the Army’s statement, the presence of soldiers was solely attributed to the National Security Adviser, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, who attended the meeting accompanied by his officially sanctioned military escorts.

The statement clarified that once the meeting concludes, the NSA and his escorts will depart from the venue.

The statement read, “The attention of Army Headquarters has been drawn to a false breaking news by NLC alleging that soldiers currently surround the venue of the ongoing meeting between NLC and the SGF.

“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 .

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

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