KEY POINTS
- More than 100 former Mobil employees staged a protest in Akwa Ibom demanding the mobilization benefits which had not been paid for 12 years.
- Between 2007 and 2017, the workers were dismissed, alleging that they were directly employed by Mobil.
- However, many of the former employees have died while waiting for their benefits and others are in critical health conditions.
Workers of Mobil Producing Nigeria (MPN) former janitorial and catering workers have stormed the streets of Akwa Ibom state to protest the non-payment of their severance benefits for the past 12 years.
The aggrieved workers are the “Ex Mobil Janitorial Service Staff” and Unified Catering Workforce aggrieved at entitlement that was due to them.
Over 100 former Mobil workers woke up early on Monday at the Mobil Housing Estate in Eket Local Government Area, to show their grievances. They carried placards with messages like “Agreement is Agreement: First is in a petition to court, ‘MPN Stick to the Collective Bargaining Agreement’ while the second is, ‘Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited Pay Us our Entitlements before you divest to Seplat Energy’
Unresolved grievances over many years
A total of 2,390 janitorial and catering services workers were sacked between 2007 and 2017 without renumeration, Moses Mbong, leader of the protesters disclosed. They have protested multiple times and tried to seek justice to no avail.
“We’ve conducted a series of the same types of protests over this very same issue,” he said. ‘‘The matter was brought before the House of Representatives but it wasn’t settled,’’ Mbong said.
Instead, Mobil kept telling us that we were third parties after all, and that the contractors who engaged us were the ones that should be paying us. But it is not true. “Mobil owes us for working for them.” At least 125 of the former workers have died while waiting for their benefits and many more are in bad health, Mbong said.
Calls for justice and a threat of future action
Protesters complained they could no longer guarantee the safety of Mobil facilities and workers if their demands are not heeded.
“The people of Nembe, Ogbia, Brass and Bayelsa in general, cannot continue to live under the slave treatment mustered to us by Mobil,” Mbong said. “Enough is enough! We have been patient enough.”
Mobil’s management could not be reached for a statement, according to Vanguard, the workers insist they will not relent until justice is done and the company honors labour laws as well as meet its obligations before divesting to Seplat Energy.
