By Victor Ahiuma-Young

It was Monday September 5, just some minutes after 2pmwhen five frail looking men came to Kirikiri Canal, Apapa, Lagos, Corporate Head Office of Vanguard Newspapers to protest alleged abandonment by their employers, APM Terminals, one of the Terminal Operators running the nation’s Ports, after sustaining various degrees of life threatening injuries on duty.

The aggrieved workers: Raheem Oyebanjo Olaore, said he sustained injury in 2010 and the injury has caused him partial stroke as one side of his body has failed him. According to him, APMT offered him N1.049million as per off, but he refused; Kanayo Umeh, a plant operator, said he sustained his injury in 2009 and today, he cannot move his waist down to the leg, but uses walking stick.

He claimed AMPT offered him N622.000 as terminal benefit, which he rejected; Nnamdi Taiye Iwuala, said he sustained his injury in 2009 and today cannot move his neck down the waist. He expressed fears of spinal cord damage.

Iwuala said AMPT offered N968.000 as pay off, but he declined; Sulemain Abdullahi, a Fork lift driver, said he injured his back waist down the leg in 2009 and now uses walking stick for support.

According to him, the company offered him N350.000 terminal benefit, but he rejected the money and Olojoba Austin, said he sustained his own injury in 2009,and today suffers paralysis, acute chest pain and vomits blood occasionally. He claimed AMPT offered himjust over N792.000 pay off which he rejected.

The workers displayed placards with inscriptions such as “President Jonathan please save us from the hands of APMT”, “National Assembly Save Our Soul”, “Governor Fashola come to our Aid”, “APMT is enslaving Nigerian”, “NLC, Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria, do not allow us to die like this”, among others.

They appealed to President Jonathan, National Assembly, Governor Fashola, NLC, MWUN, and other well meaning Nigerians and organizations, to prevail on the management and owners of the of the company to save them from untimely death.

The workers who claimed their injuries range from paralysis to partial strokes among others, alleging that instead of treating them, the management of the APMT asked them to either resume duty or collect peanuts as terminal benefits, lamenting that they had been through harrowing experiences as many of them were near incapacitation due to negligence.

Injured APM terminal staff protesting alleged abandonment by management at Vanguard Newspapers head office in Apapa. Photo: Diran Oshe.

Speaking on behalf of others, Mr. Olujoba Austin, in tears narrated the ordeal they have been facing since the industrial accidents in 2009, saying they now find it difficult to keep their wives because they no longer perform their duty as men.

According to him, “We are tired of their use and dump attitude of APMT. We are five that came here because we know when we come to Vanguard Nigerians will hear our plight and put pressure on management of APM Terminals.

We have one injury or the other from partial disability to permanent. As we speak, they have stopped our salaries and also stopped our treatment. Some of us have injury that is spinal cord related, some with back injury, neck, strokes and so on.

Four of us sustained our injuries in 2009, while one was in 2010. Two months ago, they stopped our treatment. Even before they stopped the treatment, when we went to the hospital they would give us panadol.

“When a white falls ill, he will be flown abroad, but when a black man is sick, he will be asked to go to one quack hospital in Agbara, Ogun state. They have been applying wrong medication on us because of that, instead of improvement, our situations have deteriorated.

We want Nigerians to see to our situation. We want President Goodluck Jonathan to hear this and come to our aid. At APM Terminals so many bad things are happening that people are not aware of.

It is a slave camp. The moment you enter the premise, it is a different world altogether. Nigerians are dying silently, nobody wants to speak out. We have been suffering since 2009 and a lot of people are dying silently and cannot speak out.

“About last month, they called us and seeing our situations, they gave us two options. One, either we sign to resume duty or nothing. Since then, we have not heard anything from them.

They were treating us at Idunna Hospital from onset, but recently they took us to a Hospital in Apapa (name withheld) to pay N7million to get fake certificate that we are medically fit. There, they connived with medical officials to write against us that we are fit and that we should go back to work or nothing.”

 Labour threatens industrial action

The President-General of MWUN, Comrade Anthony Emmanuel Nted could not be reached but, the Secretary General, Comrade Aham Ubani, said the union was aware of the cases and had actually written to the management of APMT to right the wrongs or face industrial action.

He threatened that should the management fail to do the right thing, the industry would be shut to draw the attention of the authorities to the plight of the workers because “an injury to one is an injury to the other.”

According to him, “APMT must ensure that the workers get the right medication attention they need to return their lives to normal and their salaries must not be stopped because they are still their employees.

If they fail to do this, we will not hesitate to shut down the entire industry to draw the attention of the authorities to their plight because an injury to one is an injury to the other. We live in a decent society and these workers are no animals.”

 We treat our workers well—APMT

Reacting, APM Terminal’s management, dismissed allegation of abandonment, and declared that it appreciated its workers and treated them well because it recognized its workforce as a major asset to it.

Speaking through Bolaji Akinola, its Media Advisor, the management said “APM Terminals supports its employees and for some, who have been under certain medical conditions, we have supported them continuously but you know that there are conditions of service jointly agreed to by APMT and the workers’ union.

Those medical conditions are not work-related but despite this, we have continually paid their salaries. But just like in any other work place, this cannot continue endlessly, so we have asked the concerned employees to return to work.

They will be re-assigned to other duties if their medical condition does not allow them to continue in their present position. That is the fair thing to do and that is what we have done and everyone concerned understands that a company cannot continue to pay salaries endlessly and we are ready to assign duties that will suit the employee at any given time.”

“We have continued paying their salaries throughout the period of their sickness. We have offered to pay off those concerned but this was rejected. We have also re-called them based on medical advice and in line with a meeting with the union but this was also rejected by this category of workers.

These workers said they want more money but we cannot pay beyond what has been collectively agreed to be paid. These workers did not sustain their injuries while at work; contrary to their claims. In fact medical advice states their illnesses to be of two types namely; Road Traffic Accident and Common Degenerative illnesses.”