Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and National Association of Nigerian Students, University of Abuja and Nasarawa State University Chapters on Monday called for the political, social and economic liberation of the Western Saharawi who has been under the control of Morocco for decades.

The students and NLC officials who picketed the Embassy of Morocco in Abuja yesterday hoped to compel Morocco and other sub-regional body as well as African Union (AU) and United Nation, UN, to join force in decolonising the nation which has been admitted as a member of African Union.

With placards of different inscriptions, the officials took off from the Headquarters of NLC in Central Area, Abuja, and matched through the streets of Abuja to galvanise support for the freedom of the only nation in Africa yet to be decolonised.

Stressing on their mission, NLC President, Comrade Ayuba Wabba, expressed displeasure over the inability of Morocco to willingly relinquish national sovereignty to the Western Saharawi.

“We tend to remind Morocco that in line with the United Nation Resolution 1514(XV), the UN in 1965 vide Resolution 2072(XX) mandated Spain to decolonize Western Sahara, formerly known as Spanish Sahara, but rather than Spain, in 1975, to decolonise Western Sahara in obedience to the Resolution ceded Western Saharawi to Morocco and Mauritania, both of whom were independent African countries, as their succeeding colonialists.”

However, the NLC President who was represented by the Deputy President, Comrade Kiri Mohammed, said that the people of the Western Saharawi has been subjected to untold hardship and maltreatment by Morocco who has assumed the position of their colonial master, “and as a labour movement in Nigeria and major player in Africa, we will not relent until we achieve the freedom of the people of Western Saharawi.”

Human right lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana, in his contribution felt disturbed that Morocco, an African Country that played a key role as a prominent member of the “Progressive” Casablanca block in founding AU in 1963 would derive pleasure in colonising a sister African country, “and worse still, perpetrating gross human rights’ violation against women, children and activists of the Saharawi people in the over 80 percent occupied territories of Western Sahara.”

Meanwhile, after a long wait at the premises of the Embassy in Asokoro with on one to attend to the protesters, Comrade Kiri Mohammed who represented the NLC President read the protest letter to the gathering and threw a signed copy of the letter into the compound of the Ambassador, apparently for him to read at will and also pass the message to their country leadership.

Part of the demands of NLC as contained in the letter is for Morocco, as a matter of urgency, willingly relinquish the political, social and economic freedom of Western Saharawi. They also demanded a free, fair and democratic referendum, which they said will herald a viable and peaceful decolonisation process of the Saharawi nation.

Meanwhile, it was gathered that such protests were held in the premises of Moroccan Embassy in 2011, in demand for the freedom of the Saharawi nation, but neither the Ambassador nor embassy officials responded to their request.

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