By Egufe Yafugborhi

WARRI—Aggrieved  contractors and workers at the Sedco Road Yard of Bredero Pipelines, an oil servicing firm, in Uvwie Local Government Area, Delta State, have blamed the death of two colleagues on hardship caused by prolonged withholding of their salaries and entitlements by the company.

The contractors and workers who began an indefinite protest at the company’s premisis, yesterday, alleged “undue harassment and intimidation” of the contractors and workers by men of the Nigeria Police at the instance of the company’s Managing Director, Shamin Khaan.

The MD, in his reaction, denied the workers’ claims, alleging instead that “some 20 out of about 120 staff of the company are being paid to destroy the company.”

Boniface Imodje, Chairman, Bredero Contractors Forum, told Vanguard during yesterday’s protest that, “The company has not paid contractors for jobs done in the past three years and workers have not received pay in the last nine months.”

Also, Hosanna Adjija who spoke for the workers, said: “The situation has become unbearable and we can’t understand the hanging on to the salaries of the worker when the company has several contracts it is handling. Now most of us have been served eviction notices where we live.

“Our children are hungry and are being turned back from their schools.”