TAKE IT BACK MOVEMENT CONDEMNS THE UNLAWFUL ARREST OF COMRADE ANDREW EMELIEZE, DEMANDS HIS IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PRESS STATEMENT

01 July 2025

TAKE IT BACK MOVEMENT CONDEMNS THE UNLAWFUL ARREST OF COMRADE ANDREW EMELIEZE, DEMANDS HIS IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The Take It Back Movement strongly condemns the arbitrary arrest and continued detention of Comrade Andrew Emelieze, the National Coordinator of the Federal Workers Forum (FWF), by operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) in Ibadan, Oyo State.

Comrade Andrew was arrested in connection with a planned nationwide protest scheduled for July 1, 2025 — a peaceful and democratic action by Nigerian federal workers demanding payment of minimum wage, long-overdue allowances, and a dignified standard of living.

We consider this act by the DSS to be a blatant attack on civil liberties and a deliberate attempt by the Nigerian state to silence dissent, criminalise peaceful protest, and intimidate labour activists who dare to challenge a corrupt and anti-worker establishment. This is not only unlawful and undemocratic, it is tyrannical.

We wish to make it categorically clear: Comrade Andrew Emelieze has committed no crime. Organising and mobilising for a protest is a constitutionally guaranteed right under the Nigerian law.

His arrest, therefore, is nothing but a crude abuse of power and an insult to the sacrifices of Nigerian workers who continue to suffer under a government that has weaponised poverty and repression.

The Take It Back Movement calls for the immediate and unconditional release of Comrade Emelieze. We further call on the leadership of the Department of State Services to desist from acts of impunity and repression against citizens exercising their democratic rights.

This shameful pattern of preemptive arrests and intimidation has become the hallmark of a government terrified of its own people. A government that would rather jail agitators than pay workers. But let it be known: no amount of harassment or coercion will suppress the will of the people.

We stand in total solidarity with the Federal Workers Forum. The demands of Nigerian workers are just, legitimate, and long overdue.

Signed,
Sanyaolu Juwon
National Coordinator,
Take It Back Movement