Illegally incarcerated Nigerian worker accuses Chinese firm of neglect, abandonement - Premium TimesHalimah Yahaya A Nigerian man wrongly incarcerated for five years arising from an errand he ran for China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation Ltd. (CCECC) has accused the construction company of abandoning him and refusing to pay him compensation after his ordeal.
Godspower Ntaka, 29, was arrested in May 2013 over the death of his colleague in a robbery incident, and remained in prison custody until September 2018 when a court discharged and acquitted him.
He has sued CCECC at the National Industrial Court over his abandonment by the company throughout and after his incarceration.
Mr Ntaka had joined CCECC in June 2011 as an assistant chief security officer and was posted to the Gwagwa yard of the company in Abuja.
His ordeal began on an innocuous note in August 2011 when he and two other colleagues were sent from the yard on an official assignment.
Robbery Attack
The site manager at the Gwagwa yard had sent them to recover some money the manager had mistakenly paid as salary to some workers. His two companions on the fateful assignment were the site security officer, Emeka Amadi; and a driver with the company, Benneth Kalu.
“On the 25 of August 2012, I resumed work as usual in the morning and in the evening around 5 o’clock we were sent by the site manager to Garam to go and recover money that was wrongly paid to some labourers. That day was the day salary was paid.
“On our way to Garam, which is about 22 kilometres from Gwagwa yard, we found the road blocked with woods and metals but nobody was around there. We thought it was the villagers who normally blocked the road after filling potholes with broken stones and then would stop passing vehicles to get some stipends.
“But as I came down to remove the woods, immediately two gunmen came out of the bush wearing masks. They said we should not move, that if we moved, they would shoot all of us. Then they asked us to bow our heads down.
“I was the only one at the back seat. They now asked the chief security officer and the driver to join me at the back, after which one of the men took over the vehicle front seat and the other one the driver’s seat.”
He said the armed robbers drove them into the bush. “They kept asking us ‘where was the money that we were taking to Garam to pay Garam staff?’ We said we were not with any money but they insisted that it was a lie.”
Mr Ntaka explained that the construction company does table payment for labourers. “So at the end of the month, money is taken from the Gwagwa office to Garam, where the labourers would now queue up to receive their salary,” he said.
“So I think someone gave them (the robbers) that information and they thought we were the ones carrying the money, since we drove in the company’s Hilux van.
“They kept on asking us for the money, that we are the ones carrying the money to Garam to pay workers. We said no, that is not true.
“They had initially asked us to bow our heads down, so as they were driving us into the bush, one of them now turned and said ‘I asked you to bow your head and you are looking at us.’ That was when they shot the driver (Mr Kalu) on the left side of the chest with the bullet piercing through the body.
“When we got into the bush, they brought us out and tied our hands and legs and collected the N5,000 on me and my phone and all the belongings of Mr Amadi. They did not touch the driver who was already bleeding. They entered the vehicle, searched everywhere but did not find anything. Then they left, still instructing us not raise our heads, if not they would kill us.
“When we noticed that there was no noise again, that was when I used my teeth to untie the rope they used in tying the Chief Security Officer’s hands and then he used his hands to untie my hands and legs.
“We saw that the driver was seriously wounded. Myself and the chief security officer cannot drive, so coming out of the bush, we found our way to Chikakore where we saw a bike man and we pleaded he should take us to the nearest police station and he drove us the Kubwa station.
“On getting there, we reported the incident and a policeman was assigned to follow us. On getting to the robbery scene, the policeman drove to the nearest hospital and the doctor confirmed that Mr Kalu was dead due to excessive bleeding. That was how the man died.”
Mr Ntaka said they returned to the police station and called the company and “they sent the company’s Public Relations Officer to us.
“The Chief Security’s lawyer wrote to the company but they said how would they pay him when he was no longer working?”
How we ended up in cell
Mr Ntaka said the next day, they visited the wife of the driver, alongside the company’s PRO, to tell her what had happened. He said the company gave the widow some money that day.
“But three days later, this woman went to the commissioner of police’s office and reported that we went and killed her husband in the bush. That was how our journey to prison began.”
Mr Ntaka said as a result of Mrs Kalu’s claims, charges were filed against him and the site security officer, Mr Amadi, for armed robbery and murder.
“The nominal complainant, which is Georgina Kalu the deceased’s wife, pressed hard charges against me and others, in order to secure a better bargain from the company. CCECC later paid her N4 million.”
Despite the company’s settlement of Mrs Kalu, the police continued the charges against Messrs Ntaka and Amadi who for the next five years would be kept in jail.
“I was in prison custody from May 2013 to September 2018, when the FCT High Court in a judgement delivered on September 11, 2018, discharged and acquitted me of the charges.
“I was incarcerated for five years and this has left a deep scar on my soul,” he said.
Throughout his incarceration, Mr Ntaka said the Chinese company refused to pay his salary while in detention, or any compensation after the court established his innocence and set him free.
No Comment – CCECC
This reporter in a letter dated August 16 sought the company’s reaction to Mr Ntaka’s allegations. But CCECC in a reply dated August 26 declined to comment. It said the matter was already before a court.
“We the Solicitors to CCECC Nigeria Limited, and we have their instruction to respond to your letter dated 16th August 2019 in respect of the above subject matter.
“By your aforesaid letter, you requested for our client’s response to the allegation of neglect and failure to pay compensation by Mr Godspower Ntaka. We are, however, constrained to inform you that our client will not be able to comment on the allegations because there is a pending court action instituted by Mr Godspower Ntaka against our client at the National Industrial Court.
“Consequently, the matter is under judicial consideration and therefore prohibited from public discussion.
“Whilst we commend your effort towards fair and balanced journalism, we advise that you refrain from publishing any article that may be contemptuous of the court.”
Mind the job you take from foreign companies – CSO
The chairman of the Civil Society Network Against Corruption (CSNAC), Olanrewaju Suraju, in a telephone interview with PREMIUM TIMES, would not comment on the specific case as it is in court.
But he urged Nigerians to mind the type of work they do with foreign companies operating in Nigeria.
“We are blaming the government that they do not regulate the services of many of these so-called foreign investors.
“The second point is that citizens themselves do not have to just take everything in the name of looking for employment. If for instance one is offered a job where you know that this service and its condition are not appropriate for human engagement and you reject it and everyone does the same, we would naturally improve the conditions for service. But if they offer it to you and you jump at it, for one to reject and another taking it, they would continue with that.
“So there must be that level of consciousness and understanding of the part of the system, meaning that we cannot wait for the government to do everything for us.” https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/top-news/365111-illegally-incarcerated-nigerian-worker-accuses-chinese-firm-of-neglect-abandonement.htmlCc: Lalasticlala |
