The Indians instructed two
Nigerians whom they employed
for “cleaning up” such messes
for them to use the same forklift
to take the dying Tosin out of the
company unto the road leading
to a hospital
The forklift lifted tons of iron
inside the Indian company –
African Wires and Allied
Industries Nigeria Limited, Plot
No. 4-6, Opic Industrial Estate,
Agbara, Ogun State. But two
heavy discs of iron hooked, so
Tosin Olajide, one of the
hundreds of casual workers at
the company, went up to free the
two irons weighing over 1.5 tons
each. Suddenly, one of the irons
came down on him, trapping him
to the ground. No safety helmet
was provided for Tosin by the
Indians. It took the same forklift
to lift the tonnage of iron before
the boy could be pulled out.
But the damage had already
been done. The iron had
chopped off part of his face and
broke his foot! His work mates
present at the scene of the
accident said blood was
pumping out of his nostrils as
water would rush out of a tap.
“Such accidents occur regularly
there,” said former safety officer
of the company, Mr. Jonathan
Abimbola.
Tosin’s life could have been
saved if the company had been
prompt in providing transport
and rushing Tosin to the
hospital, eyewitnesses insisted.
Unable to find a vehicle in a
company whose turnover runs
into millions of naira, the Indians
instructed two Nigerians who
they employed for “cleaning up”
such messes for them to use the
same forklift to take the dying
Tosin out of the company unto
the road leading to a hospital.
After some kilometers, they saw
a pick-up van and transferred
Tosin into it. They drove him to
one ill-equipped hospital used by
the company. But there was no
doctor there to attend to the boy.
The nurse advised them to take
Tosin to the Badagry General
Hospital. On their way to
Badagry, the pick-up van carrying
Tosin broke down. Tosin gave up
the ghost before they could
reach the general hospital.
Police connivance
With the assistance of the DPO of
Agbara police station, said to be
at beck and call of the Indians
who own the company, Tosin’s
body was deposited at the
Badagry general hospital
mortuary.
Angered by the negligence with
which Tosin was handled by
management, his colleagues, on
the following morning, Thursday
11 December, 2014, gathered at
the entrance of the company,
refusing to go in. The Indians
swiftly reacted by calling in
policemen and MOPOLS from
Agbara. The DPO of Agbara police
station came personally.
Together, the policemen fired
tear-gas canisters at the workers,
beating them and seizing the
mobile phones of those who
tried to take pictures of the
brutality.
Tosin, Saturday Vanguard learnt,
could hardly be up to 23 years
old, though Mr. Samuel
Ogundimu, the personnel
manager and one of the most
disgusting Nigerian lapdogs of
the Indians, according to
sources, told our reporter that
Tosin was 28.
Tosin had laboured for years for
African Wires and Allied
Industries under Parco Group of
companies for a paltry N850 a
day as casual worker, working
from 7am to 7pm. Parco Group
of
Companies is owned by the
Guptas, one of the richest
Indians who have lived and done
business in Nigeria for more
than 50 years, exploiting the
endemic circumstances.
Last year, the company employed
Mr. Jonathan Abimbola, a
chemical engineering graduate
from a UK university, as a Safety
Officer, “not that the company
cared about safety,” said a
company source, “but because
they wanted to use him as a
shield from the harassment of
the officials of the
Federal Ministry of Labour and
Productivity and Federal Ministry
of Commerce and Industry.”
Massive exploitation, deadly work
conditions
The company thought it could
use Mr. Jonathan in the usual
way it uses other Nigerians, but
that was not to be. Mr. Jonathan
was shocked at the way the
company uses and exploits
Nigerians. For instance, people
worked more than the number
of hours stipulated by labour
laws without any payment for
overtime. Moreover, there are no
safety measures whatsoever in
the company. The Indians expose
Nigerians who work for them to
all manner of dangers, and
whenever accidents occur, the
victim or the victim’s family only
get a ridiculous amount as
compensation.
Death of Tosin’s elder brother
Last year, the chief driver of the
company, Tosin Olajide’s elder
brother, who drives Mr. Narayan
(MD), slumped and died after
closing work. Those who should
know said “nothing reasonable”
was done for the chief driver.
The same year, Onyebuchi,
another casual worker, got
drowned in a deep reservoir
filled with alum water while
trying to clean himself up after
work. It was not until 12.30 after
midnight that Onyebuchi’s body
was pulled out of the large body
of alum water.
At first, the company was said to
have offered Onyebuchi’s family
N150,000 as compensation.
However, the fiery safety officer,
Mr. Abimbola, demanded N5
million for the family. At last, one
of the Nigerian lawyers working
for the Indians arm-twisted
onyebuchi’s family and convinced
them to collect N600,000.
Fear of govt agencies
Besides exposing Nigerians who
labour for them to danger and
making money with their blood
and sweat, many don’t
understand the attitude of the
Indians inside the OPIC Estate any
time some kind of inspection
team comes around. They can’t
explain the pandemonium that
occasionally ensues among the
Indians whenever officials of the
Nigeria Immigration Services,
Standard Organisation of Nigeria,
Federal Ministry of Commerce
and Industry, Federal Ministry of
Labour and Productivity, or other
government agencies, arrive at
the company’s gate without prior
notice to the Indians.
What could be happening inside
the OPIC Estate? Have the Indians
fully declared to regulatory
agencies and the Nigerian
government, all the business
activities engaged by the four
companies rolled into one – the
acid plant, the silicate plant, the
fertilizer section, and the wire
section? Although this may not
be said of OPIC there are
companies owned by Indians
which enjoy duty waivers for the
importation of certain goods like
irons for the purpose of building
factories. But when they import
the goods they turn back and sell
those goods to Nigerians, forcing
the country to continue to be a
consumer economy dependent
on imported goods, while their
home country, India, is known
for its booming technology,
health export and
manufacturing.
But one may blame this on
Nigeria’s leaders and
government and not those who
exploit the circumstances created
by Nigeria’s failure.
The Indians make the
government believe that their
businesses in Nigeria are
providing e