Firm Workers Protest in Lagos Court

Some members of staff of Global West Vessel Specialist Limited besieged the premises of the Federal High Court on Oyinkan Abayomi Drive, Ikoyi on Thursday to protest the non-payment of their salaries for 15 months.

The company is linked with an ex-Niger Delta militant leader, Government Ekpemupolo, popularly known as Tompolo. And all its bank accounts had since been frozen by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The EFCC charged Tompolo with an alleged fraud of N45.9bn and the company was also joined as a defendant in the case. The workers, who protested at the court premises on Thursday, lamented that due to the prosecution of the company and the freezing of its accounts, their salaries had not been paid for the past 15 months.

They stood in front of the court carrying placards with inscriptions such as, ‘Global West Vessel Specialist Limited workers need our 15 months salaries’; ‘We are suffering, some of our colleagues have died in the process’; ‘Mr. President save our soul’; ‘we are in support of your government, we are not militants’; ‘Global West is not owned by Tompolo’, among others.

The spokesman for the protesting workers, Roland Omobude, explained that Global West had an affiliation with the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA).

He said, “We are the sea workers, working under Global West. They said the company has a case and we don’t even know what case. If the company has a case, are we, the workers, to suffer for this case? Can’t they identify the people that are involved in this case and pick them up? Let them pay us our own salary. Some of our colleagues have died. About four or five people have died in the process. We are about 350 workers; we are in Lagos, Port Harcourt, Warri and Bayelsa.

“They said the EFCC has frozen the accounts of Global West and since they’ve frozen the account last year, when this new PMB regime came, nothing has been done. And without them defreezing this account nothing can be done. We are begging the Federal Government, we are begging everybody in this country to come to our aid; we are suffering.”

The EFCC, which charged the company along with Tompolo before Justice Ibrahim Buba, had claimed that Tompolo connived with a former Director-General of NIMASA, Patrick Akpolokemi, to use Global West to defraud NIMASA.

An investigator of the EFCC, Ahmed Ghali, had on May 23, 2016 testified in court that Tompolo used Global West to defraud NIMASA to the tune of N23.8billion between April 2012 and March 2015.

Ghali had claimed that the N23.8billion was an overpayment on the said contract awarded to Global West Vessel Specialist Limited, by NIMASA under Akpobolokemi’s watch.

Ghali also alleged that Akpobolokemi breached the private-partnership agreement in the award of the contract to Tompolo’s company in return for a bribe of N700m.

According to him, the contract was for the “improvement of security within the Nigeria maritime domain, improvement in data collection, improvement of cabotage and revenue generation enforcement, improvement of safety of life at sea and enhancement of search and rescue, improvement in pollution control and management leading to cleaner waters.”

The defendants in the case are Tompolo, Akpobolokemi, Kime Engozu, Rex Elem, Gregory Mbonu and Warredi Enisuoh.

Others are Global West Vessel Specialist Limited, Odimiri Electrical Limited, Boloboere Property and Estate Limited and Destre Consult Limited.

While Akpobolokemi and the others defendants were arraigned on March 22, 2016, Tompolo, who had shunned court’s summons served on him to appear in court, is yet to be arraigned.
Women join the fray in solidarity for Mrs Jonathan

Similarly, women numbering over 100 a day ealier had stormed the Federal High Court in Lagos, chanting songs of protest, over the freezing order on bank accounts of ex-first lady, Patience Jonathan.

EFCC had on September 22, ordered the freezing of some bank accounts belonging to the former First Lady. The Commission had asserted that this was due to the ongoing investigation of alleged money laundering against her.

Meanwhile, Jonathan in a fundamental rights suit instituted against the EFCC, is asking the court to issue an order, directing the unfreezing of her accounts forthwith.

She is also claiming the sum of 200 million dollars against the commission as damages for infringing on her fundamental rights.

But about 100 women, dressed in traditional attires of “buba and wrapper” with head gear, stormed the premises of the Federal High Court in Lagos in protest over the freezing order.

The women chanted songs in ijaw and English languages, and raised several placards with numerous inscriptions.

Some of the inscriptions reads: “Ijaw people are in solidarity with Jonathan” “Unfreeze ex-president Jonathan’s wife’s account” “We urge EFCC to abide by the rule of law” “Women must be heard”. Some of the women expressed loudly their concern for enforcement of women rights as well as those of the ex-first lady.

Immediately after the court had risen, they trooped in their numbers towards the prosecution vehicle, chanting songs of solidarity and boldly displaying their placards.

However, Jonathan’s suit has been fixed on December 7 by the trial judge, Babs Kuewumi.