A former youth president of Effi community in Ikom LGA of Cross River State, Alobi Ofuka, has listed an array of reasons youths in the community drove away Chinese nationals operating a wood processing factory on Monday.
Ofuka spoke to journalists, saying the Chinese never had genuine papers authorising them to enter their community to operate the wood factory.
“They employ underage children, which in law is termed ‘Child Labour’, maltreat our sons and daughters who work for them and beat them up at will.
“How can you employ staff to work in your factory without safety equipment? No safety boots, no helmet or gloves.
“They flog our men and women, forcing them to work as if they were slaves, in their own village? We won’t accept that any longer and if they must continue operation, then we must return to the drawing board, see the contents of their agreement with the community and resolve all pending issues,” Alobi stated.
He lamented that their issue is no longer something that should be taken for granted.
Another indigene, Konye David, who also spoke, noted that the world is changing and the people of Effi community were too enlightened to allow them to continue to enslave their people.
He alleged that the Chinese were not straightforward, as they have refused to disclose authority papers enabling them to operate as well as the agreements they entered into with community chiefs.
“From our findings, these people don’t have a company name, registration papers with the state authorising them to carry out wood processing in our community or CAC registration. In fact, how can you obtain CAC registration when you don’t even have a company name? Ok, show us the agreement you had with our community chiefs, they refused. We can’t continue living with faceless foreign nationals who are indiscriminately depleting our natural resources.
“They promised, like we heard, that they were going to employ some of our youths. The ones they’ve employed are seriously being maltreated without welfare. Not long ago, one of our sons, Alobi Ndoma, lost three of his fingers while working at the factory. The other one, Chima Raphael, had hot water burns on his back at the factory and the management showed no concern about them or their welfare, leaving them to fend for themselves. Is that fair? Is that how a company should live with its landlords? Enough is enough,” he said.
The Chief Security Officer of the Chinese firm, Raymond Okongor, himself an indigene of the Okuni community, reacted on behalf of the fleeing Chinese.
“What the youths are asking for is their right. They say they want to see the agreement the Chinese had with the community. Although there is an agreement, it is not the place of the company to tender such an agreement to the demanding youths; rather, the community chiefs and lawyers are the ones to explain to them and show them the agreement they demand.
“Presently, the manager of the company is not in town; he left for Calabar this morning so I have told them we will schedule a meeting immediately after he returns to town,” the CSO added.
The community lawyer, Ichire Okim, maintained that the Chinese firm has formal documents from relevant Nigerian authorities as well as authentic agreements with community elders.
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