Rockson Engineering workers went round the streets in Port Harcourt to protest their eleven (11) months salary owed them by Sir Johnson Ikhide Arumemi. The workers lamented that they had lost six of their colleagues who died because of prolonged non-payment of salaries.
Further investigations revealed that most of them have been driven away by their landlords for inability to pay house rent. Some of their children have been chased out of schools. Some workers are passing nights in the Rockson office because no alternative left for them. The Rockson workers who could not endure this inhumane treatment from Mr Johnson Arumemi matched to Rivers state police headquarters to complain to the Commissioner of Police. They narrated different forms of intimidations used by Johnson Arumemi to ensure his continued non-payment of workers salary.
Rockson Engineering Limited is known to be a contractor to the NIPP for 250MW Omoku Power project, 338MW Egbema power projet, 225MW Gbarian power project, 1074MW Alaoji Combined power cycle plant project and Transmission line projects in various routes. All the contracts are priced in US dollars. Now the exchange rate of US dollars has tripled, the company makes excessive profits and still not willing to pay its workers. These projects were awarded over ten (10) years ago.
Reacting to the peaceful protest, the workers said their salaries have not been reviewed for over six years and that they are not well-paid compare to other contractors in the power sector. The company stopped paying their pension contributions since 2014.
Workers are calling on the Federal government, NIPP, NLC, EFCC and Rivers State to come to their aid. According to the aggrieved workers, Mr Johnson Arumemi will never complete the projects if he is not compelled by NIPP, Federal government, EFCC , Minister of Power.