Indian workers of a contractor at the Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos State site of Dangote Refinery and Petrochemical Company, GTA Power Mech Nigeria Limited, have cried out and are seeking intervention over alleged ill treatment during the COVID-19 lockdown.
GTA Power Mech Nigeria Limited is a joint venture between Power Mech Projects Limited and Skipper T&D, undertaking projects in Africa.
The large number of Indian workers, in a video that went viral on Saturday, accused Power Mech Projects Limited, which was said to have received a contract worth $76 million at the site, of not caring about their welfare but bothered about their working despite the lockdown announced by President Muhammadu Buhari.
They accused the company of not providing them with protective equipments, unpaid salaries and starvation.
They called on the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, and Minister of Home Affairs, Amit Shah, to take “necessary steps” for their safety.
Their leader, who spoke in his language, but which was translated into English, said: “We, the citizens of India, are speaking from Dangote Refinery, which is situated almost 60km away from Lagos in Nigeria.
“We are workers of the Dangote Refinery.
“The whole world is suffering from coronavirus, which is a global pandemic.
“Nigeria has also announced its lockdown.
“During this lockdown, the workers of Power Mech Company are being forced to work.
“The staff here are forcing us to work through physical violence.
“We request our Home Minister, Mr. Amit Shah, and Prime Minister, Mr. Narendra Modi, to kindly understand our problems and help us get out of this situation by taking necessary steps to protect and save our lives.
“The people here are forcing us to work by taking us out of our rooms and pushing us into the bus in order to make us work.
“The company responsible for this is the Power Mech Company.
“We, the people working in the Power Mech Company, have not been paid.
“The workers have not received any payment since three months and there is no food arrangement made for us.
“The food which is given is worse (than) those of animals.
“In this situation of the pandemic, they are not saving us from the disease, but are trying to kill us of this disease and are pushing us into it so that we die.”
However, a top official of Dangote Group said the video was an old one.
He said there was an attempt to blackmail the company at this time, adding: “It is falsehood my brother.”