A Combined team of Soldiers and Policemen deployed to Chevron Nigeria Limited Warri Office today allegedly manhandled and forcefully quashed a peaceful protest embarked upon by members of KOMBOT-Egbema/Gbaramatu Graduates Association and the National Association of Ilaje Graduates in Warri, DAILY POST is reporting.
Our Correspondent reports that overzealous soldiers and policemen allegedly attacked and manhandled the protesters who converged at the entrance of the company bearing placards during a peaceful protest.
The protesters it was gathered, were willing to meet with the company representatives to express their displeasure over Chevron’s failure to attend to the issue of prolonged training exercises for candidates from their communities, refusal to allow trainees from VTP5, OPT2 and VTP6 programmes convert to regular employment status.
Angered by the development, the group has issued Chevron Nigeria Limited, CNL one week ultimatum to tender public apology to their members and call for a high-powered meeting with their leaders or have its operations shut down.
The group handed down the ultimatum shortly after they were allegedly manhandled.
In a chat with newsmen, President of KOMBOT-Egbema/Gbaramatu Graduates Association, Yabrade Moses, and his counterpart from the National Association of Ilaje Graduates, Ikuesan Ademola noted that they informed the relevant authorities before embarking on the protest, stating that the physical attack on them would not deter their members from pursuing the current course to a logical a conclusion.
The duo described the alleged manhandling of their members as “modern day slavery.”
“The protest is all about our indigenes that are working in Chevron’s Ogere training; the VTP5, OPT2 and VTP6. For a training of 18 months, they have been kept stagnant for about 4 years now, since March 2013. This is slavery.
“While those taken from the national, at Agbami, have been converted to permanent staff, those taken from our communities are not converted yet, using them as cheap labour or what we call modern day slavery because should anything happen to any of them, Chevron cannot be held liable and this is the major means through which our people can be taken into Chevron, the programme was designed to take our people into Chevron, but the company is trying to change the goalpost in the middle of the game.
“We cannot be intimidated, they should go and increase the number of security men they used against us today, but we shall not be deterred, they should be ready to kill us because we are going back to our communities now. ”
“We are giving them one week to tender an unreserved apology to our people who they manhandled today and for their Managing Director to call a high-profile meeting with our leaders, their failure to do these within this one week will be met with a harsh reaction because all their flow stations in our domains; Abiteye, Opuekeba, Makaraba and all other ones will be taken over by our people. This time around they will know that we have parents and families because we shall take over all the facilities.”
Spokesman of the group, Jumbo Tortor who allegedly manhandled by the security men, stated that the experience was horrific just as he expressed surprise.
“The experience we had this morning was really terrible; Chevron directed its security men to threaten us and chase us away. They beat many of us and even pulled their guns on us, firing threat shots. This was supposed to be a peaceful protest and all security agencies were duly informed; this is why I’m shocked at the experience we just got from Chevron.”
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