By Norm Dixon
The brutal military dictatorship of General Sani Abacha is stepping up its harassment of labour movement activists. The British Committee of the International Centre for Trade Union Rights (ICTUR) and the London-based Committee for a Workers' International (CWI) have both issued calls for protests and solidarity messages to secure the release of detained activists.
A number of trade union leaders, including oil union leaders Frank Kokori and Milton Dabibi, remain in prison without trial after several months of detention. The vice president of the Nigerian Labour Congress and general secretary of the textile workers union, Adams Oshimole, was recently arrested and briefly detained by the police as part of the regime's campaign of harassment against the democratic forces.
The military government is restructuring the trade unions and introducing laws which exclude the general secretaries of industrial unions from taking any positions in the leadership of the national trade union peak body, the Nigerian Labour Congress.
The military has also dissolved the national structures of all unions representing university staff.
The ICTUR has called on trade unions and labour movement activists to protest in the strongest terms to Nigerian embassies in their countries and bring the situation to the attention of companies with interests in Nigeria and where unions have members. Pressure should be applied to governments to take serious action to force the Nigerian regime to restore trade union rights and release all imprisoned trade union leaders and activists, the ICTUR urged on May 15.
The CWI reported on May 24 that the regime had arrested Biodun Olamosu and Femi Aborisade, both prominent socialists. Aborisade is editor of the newspaper Militant and a leader of the outlawed National Conscience Party. He has been held in solitary confinement for three months.
The regime has begun harassing the friends and relatives of oppositionists. Four of Biodun Olamosu's friend were held until he was captured. A 13-year-old boy was detained for four weeks because his father was wanted.
The CWI is also appealing for faxes, telegrams and letters of protest to be sent and for pickets and demonstrations for the release of detained activists and in support of the democracy movement. CWI points out that the giant oil company Shell should be especially targeted for its complicity in the repression against the workers' movement and the rights of the minority Ogoni people.
Protests messages should be sent to General Abacha, State House, Abuja, Nigeria, fax 234 9 523 2138 or the Nigerian High Commission, 7 Terrigal Cres, O'Malley ACT 2606, fax (06) 286 5332. Protest messages to Shell should be sent to Shell Company of Australia, 1 Spring St, Melbourne 3000, fax (03) 9666 5008.