Definitive Report - REPORT_NO135, March 1973

1. 82. The complaint of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions is contained in a telegram dated 20 October 1972; addressed to the ILO. The ICFTU supplied further information in a telegram dated 2 January 1973. The General Secretary of the United Labour Congress of Nigeria, Mr. Odeyemi, himself supplied information on the matter in a letter dated 2 January 1973. The Government transmitted its observations in a communication dated 29 January 1973.
2. 83. Nigeria has ratified the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87), and the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98).

A. A. The complainants' allegations

1. 84. It was alleged that Mr. Odeyemi, General Secretary of the United Labour Congress of Nigeria and substitute member of the Governing Body of the ILO, had been arrested on 8 October 1972 and that other senior trade union leaders were under police surveillance.
2. 85. In a subsequent communication the complainants stated that Mr. Odeyemi had been released on Christmas Eve.
3. 86. Mr. Odeyemi himself, in a communication to the Director-General dated 2 January 1973, confirmed his release and thanked the ILO for its intervention.
4. 87. In a communication dated 29 January 1973, the Government, in turn, states that Mr. Odeyemi has been released and is now free.

B. B. The Committee's conclusions

1. 88. It appears from the information available to the Committee, and particularly from the copy of a letter sent by the Labour Congress of Sierra Leone to the Nigerian Head of State, that the police surveillance of other trade union leaders has been discontinued.