Modern Slavery: How Workers Suffer, Die In Lagos Factory

Emeka Umoh who worked at the Hongxing steel company limited has died after being bathed in liquefied iron while he was on duty on Wednesday, September 23.

Obinna Eze. Photo Credit: The Punch

According to The Punch, Umoh died after he was taken to the Lagos University Teaching Hospital for treatment.

Another worker, Adebayo Ajiboye, reportedly suffered a similar tragedy at the company when he was squeezed by a compressor. The management’s decision to take his body to a morgue with a tipper almost resulted in a confrontation from the workers.

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The Punch reports that the workers in the Chinese factory said the condition of work was hazardous and that Ajiboye and Umoh were just two of the workers who had died in the course of working at the factory.

Another worker, Obinna Eze who was recuperating at the Federal Medical Centre, Ebute-Meta said he left Ebonyi state for Lagos so as to make money. He explained that pay in the steel company depended on meeting targets and not based on a fixed salary.

He said he lost three of his fingers when his hand got trapped in the compressor.

“I was among the workers operating the compressor, which we use to compress iron. On 10 August, around 5.50am, I was cleaning up the machine we had used to work overnight, when I noticed a crane heading in my direction. As I was trying to escape it, I never knew when my hand became trapped in the compressor.”

He blamed the management for the numerous accidents in the factory. He said they usually insisted that workers manage faulty machines even when the machines could cause deadly accidents.

Another worker who claimed to have sustained fracture when he was trapped by a machine said he had been working in the company for more than a year without being confirmed as a staff.

He said: “People die in the company like fowl and nothing happens about it. Ajiboye was my friend and he was very hungry that fateful day. He asked us for money to eat, but nobody gave him. He later bought biscuit and went back to work.

“A few minutes later, I heard a scream and by the time we rushed there, the compressor had crushed him to death.

“Our Chinese bosses brought a tipper and as they moved his remains into it, we started protesting. We were careful because we knew we could also lose our jobs.

“We did not allow them to take the corpse out in the tipper until they got an ambulance.”

He said workers were fired at will as it was easy to employ a replacement from the crowd of people waiting at the gate to get work. He added that the workers were exposed to hazard while the management turned a blind eye to the situation.

The spokesperson for the Chinese company simply identified as Udomson said the company was already negotiating with Emeka’s family. He claimed the company considered the welfare of the workers a priority but it was impossible not to record injuries due to the nature of the work. He denied the allegation that the company did not have permanent workers.

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He said: “They don’t have proofs; no concrete evidence. These are just rumours and you should not believe everything you hear. We have full staff members and contract workers.

“There is no way you can employ somebody as contract staff for eight years and the Nigerian Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress will not question you.”

In another development, a tragedy occurred in a factory in Ogun state when Samuel Ogunkoya, a worker was killed after a machine fell onto his head and smashed his skull.

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