SUMAL FOOD LIMITED Vs ABBEY TROTSKY: CDWR Demands an End to Continued State Prosecution
The Campaign for Democratic and Workers’ Rights (CDWR) calls on trade unions, pro-masses’ organizations, and activists to support the demand for an immediate end to the continuous persecution of Comrade Abiodun Bamigboye, popularly known as Abbey Trotsky, on trumped-up criminal charges by the Nigeria police at the instance of the management of the SUMAL FOOD LIMITED Ibadan.
By Yusuf Abiodun
Abbey Trotsky is the Oyo State Coordinator of CDWR and doubles as the Acting National Chairperson of the Socialist Party of Nigeria (SPN). He has been under a string of state prosecutions since 2019. This is as a result of the support and solidarity given by the members of the Oyo State Chapter of the CDWR to the protest and strike embarked upon by contract/casual workers of Sumal Food between 2nd and 3rd October 2018.
Abbey has suffered a series of harassment including arrest and detention by the police and the Department of State Services (DSS) for about six years. He was arrested 8 times by the police and DSS between 19th December 2018 and 9 June 2019. He was later forced to report weekly at the office of the AIG Zone 11 Osogbo Osun State, between 28 May and 7 June 2019 after which he was arraigned at Iyaganku Magistrate Court on 7 June, 2019 first on four-count criminal charges but later increased to an eight-count charge. So far, the matter has been presided over by five different magistrates and recorded eighteen adjournments and seven re-arraignments.
In addition to the criminal matter, there is a civil matter which was instituted against Abbey Trotsky at the National Industrial Court (NIC), Ibadan by over 20 outsourcing companies known for indecent labour practices of recruiting workers under a casual or contract employment condition for virtually all leading factories, including SUMAL FOOD LIMITED, in Oyo State. Worthy to note that, some of these outsourcing companies were established by some leading rightwing members of the Food Union (National Union of Food, Beverage and Tobacco Employees, NUFBTE) and these platforms are notorious for enslaving workers.
The motive behind the continuous prosecution of Abbey Trotsky is an attempt to make a scapegoat of him, deter other members of CDWR from intervening in the plight of poor casual workers, and strike fear into the hearts of casual workers across workplaces in the state and country at large.
Therefore, we call on the national leadership of the NLC and TUC to join us in the CDWR to demand an end to the state prosecution of Abbey Trotsky at the instance of SUMAL FOOD LIMITED and also immediately commence a serious national campaign against casualisation and other related indecent labour practices. (email: [email protected])
We commend our various lawyers for pro-bono services as well as socialists and activists including NLC Oyo State Chair Kayode Martin for their consistent solidarity.