THE Nigerian chapter of Network of International Lawyers Assisting Workers (ILAW) has stated that holding workers against their will constitutes not only unwholesome labour practices, but an infringement on the rights and liberty of the individual as guaranteed, not only by International Standards established by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) but also the 1999 Constitution (as amended).
ILAW, in a statement signed by Comrade Benson Upah, and made available to National Record on Sunday, made the declaration following the recent scandal in which Indian-owned Popular Farm, a rice mill company in Kano, was alleged to have held 126 workers against their will under very deplorable conditions and on starvation rations for three months. Many of the workers reportedly suffer from varying degrees of injury as a result. Apart from the violation of international standards, Comrade Upah said, the action of the company violates Section 35 (1) and of the Nigerian constitution and is actionable in criminal and tort laws.
Comrade Upah, while stating that Nigerian workers lives matter, noted that ILAW Nigeria will work with the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) and industrial unions to ensure that “extant labour laws are not observed in the breach by employers” in Nigeria.
“The ILAW is particularly keen to be involved in all lawful and constitutional avenues of seeking redress to ensure observance of workers’ rights, including filing law suits, signature campaigns, etc. in order to protect the interests and dignity of workers.
“In pursuance of this objective, the ILAW, working with the NLC/TUC state councils and their affiliate unions in Kano, will embark on all lawful means to ensure that the Kano 126 get justice. And by this Statement, the ILAW is sending a clear and unmistakable message to unscrupulous employers of labour, Nigerian and foreign employers of labour, that the days of workplace tyranny are over,” Comrade Upah said.
ILAW while disparaging the condition under which the 126 workers were held, describing it as “overcrowded facility/factory during the Covid-19 pandemic, contrary to Section 8 of the Factories Act, 1987” also said the conduct of the rice mill company was “not only barbaric and nihilistic, it also goes against the grain of Decent Work Agenda to which we all subscribe.”
ILAW called on the police, the Ministry of Labour and Employment, Immigration and other appropriate authorities not to relent in their efforts in ensuring that the full weight of the law be visited upon the culprits. “This is made necessary and urgent by the fact that Popular Farm are allegedly not first time offenders. At the time of this infraction, they were alleged to be on suspension from the membership of the Rice Processors Association of Nigeria “over some issues”.
