<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By Tobi Aworinde (Punch)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Scores of aggrieved Indian workers at the Dangote Oil Refinery Company in\nLagos State have accused their employer of forcing them to work without pay or\nprotection amid the coronavirus pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The workers, in a video on YouTube published on Saturday, called on their\nPrime Minister, Narendra Modi, and Minister of Home Affairs, Amit Shah, to take\n\u201cnecessary steps\u201d for their safety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They claimed to be employed by GTA Power Mech Nigeria Ltd., a joint venture\nbetween Power Mech Projects Limited and Skipper T&D undertaking projects in\nAfrica.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The company had in 2017 got a $76m order for composite work tender unit-V\nby Dangote Oil Refinery Company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An unidentified man, who spoke in a foreign language on behalf of the\ngroup, said, \u201cWe, the citizens of India, are speaking from Dangote Refinery,\nwhich is situated almost 60km away from Lagos in Nigeria. We are workers of the\nDangote Refinery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe whole world is suffering from coronavirus, which is a global pandemic.\nNigeria has also announced its lockdown. During this lockdown, the workers of\nPower Mech Company are being forced to work. The staff here are forcing us to\nwork through physical violence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe request our Home Minister, Mr Amit Shah, and Prime Minister, Mr\nNarendra Modi, to kindly understand our problems and help us get out of this\nsituation by taking necessary steps to protect and save our lives.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to them, the workers of many other Nigerian companies are not\nbeing forced to work as they are abiding by the social distancing and\nstay-at-home order. They alleged that, though other workers were secure, Power\nMech Company had not provided any security for them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe people here are forcing us to work by taking us out of our rooms and\npushing us into the bus in order to make us work. The company responsible for\nthis is the Power Mech Company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe, the people working in the Power Mech Company, have not been paid. The\nworkers have not received any payment since three months and there is no food\narrangement made for us. The food which is given is worse (than) those of\nanimals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIn this situation of the pandemic, they are not saving us from the disease\nbut are trying to kill us of this disease and are pushing us into it so that we\ndie,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Attempts to get a reaction from GTA Power Mech proved abortive as the\ncompany did not respond to phone calls, a text message and an email. When\ncontacted, Dangote Group\u2019s Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Mr Anthony\nChiejina, said the video was over two months old.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said, \u201cThat video is more than two months old. It\u2019s just an unrelated\nissue. People are just doing what they like.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When our correspondent pointed out that the video made reference to\nCOVID-19, Chiejina said, \u201cWhat they are saying is rubbish. Three months ago,\nwas coronavirus there? It is an old thing that is unrelated.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Tobi Aworinde (Punch) Scores of aggrieved Indian workers at the Dangote Oil Refinery Company in Lagos State have accused their employer of forcing them to work without pay or protection amid the coronavirus pandemic….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1344,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[9],"tags":[355],"class_list":["post-1343","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-cry-for-help"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\n