NEWS of the recent incident in which hundreds of Nigerians were locked up and forced to work in a foreign-owned rice processing company in the commercial city of Kano is, to say the least, quite disconcerting. Although no loss of lives was recorded in the incident, it however exposes the unregulated manner in which expatriates conduct business in this country. Not only do they recklessly flout the laws of the land with impunity, but they also unduly take advantage of the high unemployment situation in the country to exploit vulnerable Nigerian workers.
Forced labour, the point at issue, is defined by the International Labour Organisation, under its 1930 convention (No. 29) as “all work or service which is exacted from any person under the threat of a penalty and for which the person has not offered himself or herself voluntarily.” It could also involve violence and intimidation. The incident in Kano was in no way different. It has to be thoroughly investigated and those responsible for the gross violation of the rights of the workers be commensurably punished.
The Indian-owned company reportedly locked up a large number of workers — the numbers vary from 126 to 600, depending on which account one chooses to believe — and forced them to work throughout the period of the coronavirus lockdown, until they were eventually rescued by the police following a tip-off. “What I saw was heartbreaking. Where the company kept these people to live isn’t fit for animals,” said an official of the Global Human Rights Network, an international rights group.
That this gross abuse of the rights of Nigerian workers by foreigners took place in the country is a damning indictment of the rules enforcement system in the country, which is generally considered lax. Under Nigerian laws, forced labour is a criminal act that is frowned upon by both the Constitution and the Labour Act. The Constitution, under Section 34 (1) (c), says “no person shall be required to perform forced or compulsory labour.”
The management of the rice company allegedly locked up the workers, denying them contact with the outside world, including members of their immediate families. They were initially coaxed into believing that they would only work for some few extra hours in order to cover some grounds before the commencement of the lockdown. But the story later changed when they were threatened with the sack if they rejected an offer of additional N5,000 to their monthly salary of N25,000 – which is even less than the N30,000 national minimum wage – to continue working throughout the period that the country was under the lockdown.
Poorly fed and remunerated, and operating under an excruciatingly inhospitable condition, the occurrence was a recipe for disaster. In a country where tragic incidents have become commonplace, the rescue should be seen as one possible calamity averted. What if there was an outbreak of the dreaded COVID-19 or any other infectious disease for that matter among the workers? The outcome of such a dreadful situation can only be imagined. Perhaps no single person would have been spared. The impending disaster could even have come in the form of a fire outbreak, which is sometimes common in some of the companies.
This was the case in 2002, at Ikorodu, a Lagos suburb. A plastic company owned by some Asians went up in flames, consuming dozens of workers who could not escape because they were locked in while they worked. What country would allow hundreds of people to be working in an enclosed place when what should be done is to provide multiple exit points in the event of a fire outbreak? A BBC report claimed that the Red Cross could only account for 37 corpses at the time of filing their report, while over 200 who were at work could not be accounted for.
Questions on why all the entrances were locked only elicited a cavalier response. “The man who locked the door was not able to get back with the key,” a National Union of Chemical Employees official told AFP. The incident rightly sparked protests as people tried to get at the owners of the company who failed to observe safety standards in their operations.
Despite the fact that the lock-up in the Kano factory was total, it is doubtful if there was any provision made for emergency medical attention in case of any crisis. Consideration for the welfare of the workers was the last thing on the minds of the management of the company. This incident should not be allowed to repeat itself in this country. Although foreign companies are not alone in operating without safety standards or regard for the rights of workers, they seem to have become adept at exploiting the weakness of law enforcement to get away with many infringements.
One of such areas where the foreign companies succeed in flouting the law is in the area of expatriate quota. Even where there are Nigerians that are capable of occupying some positions, they still bring in people from their country to take over jobs that should be for Nigerians. Both the Internal Affairs Ministry and its Labour counterpart should work together to ensure that the exploitation of the Nigerian system is checked.
It should be stated clearly that the responsibility for ensuring that workers perform their duties under a decent environment is not only that of the Federal Government, but also involves the state and local governments. Members of the organised labour should never have been found wanting in Kano because the welfare of workers is the singular most important reason for their existence. Together, the three tiers of government, the organised labour and the civil society groups should be interested in defending the rights of Nigerians whenever they are violated.
END
Be the first to comment