A Coalition of Ibeno Youth Leaders has condemned the sack of 94 oil workers at the Qua Iboe oil Terminal operated by Mobil Producing Nigeria (MPN). Mr Edem Ebong, Chairman of Ibeno Youth Council, who spoke on behalf of the Coalition, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Eket that the disengagement of the workers was unfortunate and ill timed.

He said that the coalition was concerned because rather than join hands with the Federal Government in reducing the unemployment figures, the company was worsening the situation. Ebong said: “We are concerned that rather than join hands with the government to provide jobs, Mobil is worsening the unemployment situation by sending nearly hundred people to the labour market.

“ It is a sad development that our people who are employed as contract staff are sacked at will without any fault of theirs and our interactions with the affected staff showed that they all have clean records. We are pressing for a review of that decision because it was targeted at people from the host community and we have written to the management of Mobil to reinstate the affected staff immediately.”

A NAN check revealed that about 94 contract workers at the Qua Iboe oil fields were disengaged last month in a downsizing exercise in the operations of Mobil.  Public Affairs sources in Mobil declined comments on the development and insisted that the oil firm had no direct responsibility as the affected workers were hired by contractors working for Mobil.

However, Mr Bassey Harry, Public Relations Officer of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) at the Terminal, said that the development was of concern to the Union as it remained committed to the welfare of its members.

Harry said that the union was agitating for the payment of the disengaged workers’ benefits. “Our position on this matter is that since the affected workers did not breach the terms of their employment contract, they should be disengaged under the redundancy clause and their benefits paid accordingly,” he said.