NLC threatens showdown over 89 labourers at Dangote refinery

“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.”

However, in an interview with Weekend Trust, the chairperson of NLC in Lagos State, Comrade Funmi Sessi, insisted that the presence of the young men constituted a security threat to the state, adding that bringing them also violated labour laws.

READ ALSO:

• Israel threatens to eliminate Houthi leaders after ‘raining’ bombs on Yemen ports
• Chelsea edge Man United to bolster Champions League push
• Try a fresh start, register as a new party – APC advices PDP

Sessi, who spoke in Abuja, 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 per cent of those in the locality should be given the opportunity while 30 per cent 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?”

The labour leader called on the Lagos State governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, and the Federal Ministry of Labour to call the management of the Dangote Refinery to return the “boys” in order to avert labour crisis.

She said, “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.”

NLC threatens showdown over 89 labourers at Dangote refinery