Pipeline Surveillance Contractors who work for the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) embarked on a protest on Monday for the non-payment of 10 months salary arrears by UTM Offshore Limited, NNPC contractor in Enugu.
The Security Guards Contractors that monitors from Ishiagu Ebonyi State to Emene, Enugu State Petroleum pipeline carried placards with various inscriptions and chanted, “NNPC pay us our 10 months salary arrears; our children are dying of hunger while we are working day and night,” among others as they matched to the Emene NNPC Depot.
Some of the inscriptions in their placards read, “NNPC/NPSC pay your contractors”, and “We are losing our workers to hunger because of the non-payment of salary”.
Addressing journalists after a closed-door meeting with the Depot Manager, Mrs Onyinye Okeize, the leader of the security guards, His Royal Highness, Igwe Charles Okonweze, lamented that for 10 months the security guards were not paid their salary allowances, describing it as inhumane.
The traditional ruler said it is against all natural Justice to owe a worker his wages.
Okonweze said through their services, NNPC was able to move oil products from Port-Harcourt to Enugu Depot after over 15 years that the depot was abandoned and forgotten.
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Although the Depot Manager refused to address journalists, Igwe Okonweze, said, “The manager advised us to go to Port-Harcourt where our contractors had their offices or in alternative go to Abuja.
“It is only in Nigeria that somebody will be working at the end of the month, you will be told stories. How will you feed your family?
“Our counterpart contractors from West and Northern Nigeria had been paid without storytelling from any quarters, even when it is recorded that the west and northern counterpart incurred some losses more than the UTM company.
“Why should our case be different, if it is not injustice and unfair-play targeted against the Southeast as usual, and a ploy to sabotage the effective functioning of the Enugu Depot again,” he said.
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