WRPC Employees Protest Poor Remuneration, Seek Tinubu, Kyari's Help

Support staff of the Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company (WRPC) in Delta state have appealed to President Bola Tinubu to urgently address the "injustice," and "workplace slavery" unleashed on them by the management of the company.

The protesting staff, during a peaceful protest at the premises of the company yesterday, also called on the Group Chief Executive Officer of Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC), Mele Kyari to intervene in their plight.

The workers lamented that since 2015, their call for salary raise and other allowances have been left unattended to which led to another week long protest in 2019, after which management of the WRPC were summoned to the House of Representatives.

They complained that a follow-up protest in 2022 also yielded no result noting that now that the refinery is almost 95 per cent completed, they won't want to continue with the slavery salary entitlements from the management of the company.

The protesters, clad in black attires and chanting solidarity songs bore placards with inscriptions such as "Renumeration: Health coverage, hazard, pension, leave, transport, lunch, housing allowances," "Workplace oppression/discrimination," "Support staff actively participated in Quick-Fix project. Retirees called back to reap the reward," among others.

Speaking to journalists on the day two of the protest yesterday, Lead Representative of the support workers at WRPC, Dafe Ighomitedo, said the protest was against poor earnings and perceived failure of management to boycott, deprive and short-change them, in respect to the Quick-Fix project which they have seen to 95 per cent completion.

"We are calling on our president who doesn't want oppression to see that we are being treated as slaves here. He should come and intervene. We know he has a good heart towards the youths and we expect him to spring to action. This is the oil and gas industry and we know what is obtainable everywhere.

"We are support staff, not cursed people. There are support staff everywhere in the oil and gas sector, but they are treated fairly. So we want Mr. President to move in swiftly, using his good office and his good heart as a father, so that we too can smile and progress together, even as the nation progresses.