The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has accused the Cross River State Governor, Prof Ben Ayade, of not showing concern over the kidnap of its Chairman, Comrade Ben Ukpepi.
A statement signed by the Vice Chairman of the Union, Comr. Lawrence Achuta, said despite the letter sent to the governor 12 hours after the kidnap of Com Ukpebi the Governor has not shown any form of concern to their plight or request.
His words:” Let me, on behalf of the NLC thank you for the attention you have given to the issue of the Kidnapping of our Congress Chairman.
“Today makes it the 5th day that he has been in captivity. Permit me to further State here that His Excellency has not shown any form concern, despite our letter to him about 12 hours after the incident.
“In the past 7 days, we are informed of about 5 Kidnap cases in and around Calabar. The Organized Labour Community is deeply worried over the deplorable situation in the State.
” We use this opportunity to inform you that we can not guarantee industrial peace in Calabar during this festive period; as we can not pretend to glory, in the name of Carnival, when people are kidnapped in the State almost on daily basis.
“We pray you reach His Excellency, in order to avoid any unpleasant reactions from the Labour Community. The State is no longer safe for us,” he bemoaned.
When contacted, the Special Adviser to gov Ayade on Media & Publicity, Mr Christian Ita said the government was working tirelessly to ensure the safe release of Com Ukpebi.
He said: “Government is work tirelessly with security agencies to free the NLC chairman and bring closure to this sad incident. It is unfortunate that this happened in the first place.
“However, the threat to down tools is unnecessary dramatization and will be unhelpful in the effort to free him from his captors.
” Incidents of this nature which has become a national concern given the frequency of occurrence around the country requires all hands to be on deck to arrest it,” Ita said.