By Esther Onyegbula

 Ofonime Hanson Edwin, is a technician  from Akwa Ibom state. He  works  as a technician in  Hydro-tech company, a subsidiary of African Fertilizer, which  manufactures alum, sulfuric acid and acid, located in Igbesa in Ogun state.

Tragedy, occurred recently in his place of work,  which resulted in his being confined to the hospital bed for a long period of time.

His ordeal, began on  May 21, 2010, precisely on a Friday, after he was asked by one of his  superiors to change a faulty valve in the acid plant. Little did he realise danger was lurking, as almost at the same time, someone else switched on the plant to start production, resulting in his being bathed with some acidic substance.

As the 38-year-old father of one with another baby on the way narrated his experience, this reporter observed that there were scars on his head and some part of his face, a proof of the extent of the damage the acid did to his recuperating body.

According to him, “I was called to change the valve of one of the plant that developed fault and was almost through with the change when the Production Manager asked those in charge of production to start production, without my knowledge.

Immediately the plant was switched on from the control switch which is located in a separate room from where I worked, acid splashed all over my face and back, and as I tried to jump from where I was, I fell into the slush (alum waste) and because of the slippery nature of the slush it was difficult to run out. As soon as I was able to get out I ran to the water treatment shouting for help and people rushed to help me some were pouring water on my body to subdue the power of the acid; the pain I felt was excruciating” he said recounting his suffering.

For a company that is involved in the production of harmful substance like acids, one would have expected that they would have a clinic for first aid treatment or a stand by ambulance in case of an emergency. Unfortunately for Mr. Edwin the reverse was the case.

“I passed through hell, because there is no clinic within the factory premises to administer first aid treatment, no company vehicle or ambulance to convey me immediately to the hospital; so the factory manager used his vehicle to convey me to the hospital, on our way to the hospital that was when the company vehicle met us and then carried me to Victoria Hospital, which is the company’s medical centre at Morogbo” he noted.

I was hospitalized in Victoria hospital where they treated the injuries on face, back and other parts of my body while occasionally I went to University teaching hospital, Ikeja because of the eyes that were affected, where the eye specialists  took care of my eyes, they washed my eyes twice on different occasions before I started seeing partially with one of my eyes and later with both of them. Since then I have not been seeing properly with my eyes, when ever I focus on anything for sometime tears will begin to drop from my eyes and when I close my eyes to sleep it is as if there is tear gas in the room.

Edwin claimed that he had not fully recovered before he was asked to resume work on the 18th of last month which he did; and on several occasions he complained to the management on the state of his health but they refused to take action.

Asked why the company refused to compensate him, he alleged that initially the factory manager Mr. Victor Adahgese said the company would compensate me but when I resumed they started acting funny that was when I had to involve my lawyer to file a suit and demand compensation for the acid incident which they refused to acknowledge instead they asked me to withdraw the suit that they will staff me, promote me and increase my pay latter they gave me a document to sign with an inflated amount spent as my health expenses which I refused to sign because the document said the company spent one hundred and seventy five thousand naira when they spend only nineteen thousand naira. 

He further claimed that production Manager Mr. Sajal Chakravorty, had threatened him severally saying: Nigeria is a corrupt country and that if he refused to withdraw the suit filed against the company; they would employ the services of an efficient lawyer who will make sure his case does not stand a chance in court.

 Our position General Manger

Mr. B.S. Chavhan General Manager noted that Mr. Hanson Edwin is a technician in the technical department of the factory he sustained injury while he was carrying out a maintenance operation in one of the machines where acid is produced.

And immediately the victim Mr. Edwin was taken to the hospital for medical treatment at Victoria hospital in Morogbo and also he was referred to Ikeja teaching hospital where he had an eye specialist doctor take care of his eyes that were affected during the accident. And he has resumed work since the past one month.

He added that “taking care of his medical bill and paying him his full salaries while he was still in the hospital on sick leave that is the compensation that my company can offer him”.

For a company that is into the production of acids one would expect that they have an insurance policy covering their workers welfare incase of accident occurrence. Unfortunately there is no insurance policy whatsoever for the factory workers, no identity card, no proof that this person is an employee of this company, no confirmation letter and no letter of appointment.