The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has threatened a showdown with Dangote Refinery and Petrochemical Company for “importing” 89 labourers to the Lekki, Lagos State-based firm from Katsina State, Daily Trust is reporting.
The Chairman of the NLC in Lagos State, Comrade Funmi Sessi, issued the threat in an interview he granted Weekend Trust following a viral video.
The viral video showed the casual workers on their arrival from Katsina State.
The young and old men confirmed they were recruited and had all their documents.
In a reaction to the development, the Lagos State Police Command confirmed that the casual workers were hired by a company working on the Dangote Referent and Petrochemical Company project.
A statement by the spokesman of the Command and a Chief Superintendent of Police, CSP Benjamin Hundeyin, said: “Preliminary investigations revealed that the young men in question, 89 in number, had arrived from Katsina State and were recruited to work as labourers at the Dangote Refinery in Lekki.”
Speaking with Weekend Trust, Sessi said: “My position is that what the Dangote Refinery did is very wrong.
“These people are low-income earners.
“The rule of engagement and labour rules have stated clearly that 70 percent of those in the locality should be given the opportunity while 30 percent can be given to those who have skills.
“Which kind of skills will they tell us that these people have that the young people who are unemployed in the locality don’t have?
“Which competence don’t those people in the community have?
“This is an aberration.
“I believe Dangote can’t do this.
“He has companies in all parts of this country.
“Why couldn’t he recruit these guys for his company in the northern part and reserve these ones for those in the South, where the refinery is situated?
“Anyway, this is not the first time he is doing this.
“Dangote is fond of bringing in Indians and other expatriates as technicians.
“He prefers to bring foreigners who don’t even have the knowledge of our own local people.
“This is unacceptable to us.
“We are already calling him out.
“This is the first series of it.
“We are also using this opportunity to tell the government of Lagos State and the Federal Ministry of Labour that Dangote has committed an aberration of the highest order.
“Those guys should be taken back to Dangote’s companies in the northern part, not in Lagos State.
“If Dangote refuses to do this, we will involve the NLC at the national level to fight this act of bringing 89 unskilled workers to Lagos State.”
Reacting also to the development, a spokesperson of the Dangote Group, in a text message, told Weekend Trust: “We did not know anything about them.
“They were brought in by one of our vendors, working in the refinery
“And as you know, for a project of that magnitude, we have so many vendors working for us.
“We are already investigating the matter too.”
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