By EDEKI IGAFE

The support staff of Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company (WRPC) in Delta have appealed to President Bola Tinubu to address their plights at the company urgently.

The staff appealed in a peaceful protest held on Tuesday at the company’s premises in Ekpan Community, Uvwie Local Government Area of the state.

Clad in black attire and chanting solidarity songs, the workers cried to be freed from what they described as injustice and workplace slavery.

The protesting workers also called for the intervention of Mr Mele Kyari, the Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports the workers displayed placards with inscriptions bearing their grievances concerning remuneration, health coverage, hazard, pension, leave, transport, lunch, and housing allowances.

The protesters lamented that since 2015, their many calls for salary increments and other allowances had not yielded any positive response.

NAN recalls that in 2019, the workers embarked on a week-long protest, and followed it up with another protest in 2022 without fruitful outcomes.

The protesters’ leader, Dafe Ighomotedo, said they were protesting their poor earnings and management’s perceived attempt to shortchange them concerning the Quick-Fix project, which had reached 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 toward the youth and we expect him to swing into 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.

“We are also calling on the GCEO and every stakeholder that wants this nation to move forward to also see to our plights,” he said.

NAN reports that efforts to get the management of WRPC for their comments were unsuccessful. (NAN)

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