66 workers reported missing after military raid on NLNG Train 7 site

The National Association of Plant Operators (NAPO) on Monday said that the weekend raid on the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Limited (NLNG) Train 7 Project site has left 66 workers unaccounted for.

Recall that the workers had been locked in a struggle for improved working conditions with Daewoo Engineering and Construction Nigeria Limited, contractor to the SCD JV (Saipem Chiyoda) of the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Limited (NLNG).

Speaking with Tribune Online on the matter, President General of NAPO, Harold Benstowe said the raid followed the inability of the soldiers to pick him up on that Friday.

According to Comrade Benstowe, “Last Friday, we went to Daewoo for a meeting over the ongoing workers’ agitation. I was initially not allowed in, but after much pressure from the workers, I was allowed in and taken to the Admin section of the construction site.

“While at the Admin section, we noticed the arrival of three military vehicles carrying over 15 soldiers.

“Immediately the Army personnel arrived, they demanded to take me away, but the workers resisted them and smuggled me away from their midst. The soldiers had initially surrounded me and demanded that I follow them but the workers created a rowdy scenario and smuggled me out of the grips of the military officers.

“After the military officers realized they couldn’t take me away, they went and waited outside the Daewoo Train 7 Project site, waiting for me to come out so that they can take me away. All this happened in the morning of Friday, 7th of October, 2022.

“I had to stay with the workers till it was late in the evening. That was when the workers were able to smuggle me out of the Train 7 Project site. However, before I left the workers, we did a head count and counted 158 workers on the Train 7 Project site.

“After the soldiers realized I had been smuggled out, they raided the NLNG Train 7 Project site that night, leaving many of the workers wounded and bruised.

“The workers were then taken away by the soldiers to the 6th Division of the Nigerian Army located at Bori-Camp in Port Harcourt. They were however released on the order of the General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the 6th Division.

“As I speak, we are still looking for about 66 of our members since that raid. The Army, after that raid, released 24 workers. The Army said the released workers were the ones taken to Bori-Camp in Port Harcourt. We have located 68 other workers. If you add 68 plus the 24 released by the Army, that will give you 92. I left 158 workers inside the NLNG Train 7 Project site on Friday night.

“The whereabouts of the remaining 66 workers are still unknown as I speak to you. Their families have been coming to our secretariat to complain that they cannot find their loved ones.

“The Army told us that the 24 workers released are the ones taken to the Nigerian Army 6th Division in Bori-Camp, Port Harcourt. We have located 68 other workers. Where are the remaining 66 workers? We are still looking for the 66 workers that have gone missing since the Army raid of Friday, 7th of October, 2022.”  (Nigerian Tribune)