DSS Releases Ajaero, Seizes Passport.

The Department of State Services (DSS) has freed labour leader Joe Ajaero.

Ajaero confirmed his release, saying the secret police let him go home around 11 p.m. on Monday.

The head of the Nigeria Labour Congress said he was interrogated for almost 15 hours after being arrested about 7 a.m. at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja.

However, Ajaero stated that the secret police had taken his travel passport.

The labour leader alleged that despite being detained by the DSS, several police officers questioned him about the August countrywide #EndBadGovernance rallies at the DSS office in Abuja.

Ajaero said he answered queries concerning suspected terrorism financing involving Andrew Wynne, a British national.

On Monday, the labour leader was arrested at Abuja International Airport while on his way to the United Kingdom for a Trade Union Congress (TUC) convention.

The NLC criticised Ajaero’s detention and ordered the secret police to release the labour leader before Tuesday midnight. In view of “this troubling development,” the union has placed all of its affiliates, state councils, civil society friends, and all patriotic Nigerians on high alert.

The TUC, global rights organisation Amnesty International, and human rights activist Femi Falana, among others, chastised the Federal Government for its crackdown on the labour leader and demanded his immediate and unconditional release.

In late August, the NLC president accepted police invites amid suspicions of terrorism financing, insisting on his innocence.

Imo State arrested Ajaero in November of last year as he planned to lead a demonstration against unpaid worker pay, among other issues.