From Ighomuaye Lucky, Benin
Civil society organisation Talakawa Parliament (TP) has called on the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) to prevail on Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki to rescind the state’s ‘proof of vaccination’ policy in the interest of peace.
The president of the group, Marxist Kola Edokpayi, made the call in Benin City while speaking on sundry issues in the state.
‘I want to use this opportunity to call on the Nigeria Labour Congress, (NLC) the Trade Union Congress (TUC) to raise in condemnation of this act,’ he said.
‘Let those who want to take the vaccine and leave those who are saying no to it be.
‘Even in America where the coronavirus kills like flies, the people came out to say that the government cannot force them to take the vaccine,’ he said.
Edokpayi said the governor should lead by example by obeying the Port Harcourt High Court order which asked him to maintain the status quo on the compulsory vaccination of citizens in the state rather than promoting what is seen to be selective justice.
‘The governor is taking us back to the dark days of the apartheid in South Africa where, as a black South African, you have to move with your pass to the extent that South Africans came out to protest against that introduction of pass.
‘This is what the governor is doing. Why will he be infringing on the fundamental human rights of citizens, taking into perspective that there is a court order restraining the governor from that forceful vaccination, we expected the governor to respect the court order.
‘He cannot be seeing respecting court order that favours him and disobey court order that didn’t favour him,’ he said.
Edokpayi said the country has gone beyond the era of autocracy and should allow the people to make informed decisions on their own.
‘Let me decide whether to take the vaccine or not and not the governor to force it on me.
‘This government is fast deteriorating into full-blown totalitarianism of which people like us will certainly resist.
‘As a civil society group in Edo State, we are meeting, we will meet today and we are going to come out with massive protest to protest this forceful vaccination,’ he said.