ExxonMobil adduces reasons for sacking spy police officers - ITREALMS Online

ITREALMS:

The Management of ExxonMobil has adduced reasons why spy police officers on the company’s employ were terminated shortly after being absorbed in compliance with the recent Supreme Court order, reports ITRealms.

On Friday, July 13 this year, ITRealms recalled, the spy policemen working for the company in its operational locations in Lagos, Eket in Akwa Ibom States among other places, simultaneously staged protests over alleged denial of their “official” entitlements.

The Chairman, Security Workforce ExxonMobil, Okon Johnson, said the protesters, some of whom put in almost 22 years service, accused the management of refusing to comply with the Supreme Court order to absorb them as employees of the company.

ExxonMobil in its reaction through the company spokesman, Mr. Ogechukwu Udeagha, denied the accusations, saying the management had fully complied with the Supreme Court order by providing compensation packages for the affected personnel.

Udeagha also said in a statement made available to ITRealms that the compensation packages covered all categories of affected personnel, including those in active service, and others who had already left the services of the company before the judgment.

In addition, he said the company also offered human resource consulting services to assist the affected police officers with employment opportunities with third parties working for the company.

But a senior official of the company who requested his name not to be revealed, though the management absorbed the policemen in compliance with the Supreme Court order, their appointments had to be terminated for “operational reasons”.

The source said: “The company complied with the Supreme Court ruling by acknowledging the spy police as employees. 

“But given the business model MPN is running, calculating their emoluments and benefits was a challenge. 

“Most of them have School Certificate as their highest qualification.

“Now, the least of them will get a minimum of 10 years annual basic salary and allowances up till July 13, 2018, in addition to August salary paid in lieu of one month notice of disengagement from service.

“They were hired or recruited and trained by the Nigeria Police and deployed to Mobil Producing Nigeria. 

“The company has been paying them through the police.

“Administratively, they were being managed by the police, including their promotions and other benefits. 

“Most of the police officers, who joined the service in the 1990s, have put in a minimum of 12 years of service. 

“The case went all the way to the Supreme Court and was decided in their favour.”

The official said the policemen took ExxonMobil to court demanding to be absorbed as full staff to be entitled to full benefits like every other MPN employees.

However, the official said due to the peculiar nature of the oil and gas industry, ExxonMobil was compelled to terminate their appointments, despite agreeing to pay all their benefits, gratuity, leave allowance arrears and pension going back to when they began to work for the company.

“ExxonMobil is an oil and gas producing company, and not a security services provider. In all, they were about 900. Of this number, a lot of them have either retired, moved on to other jobs, or died. Those who are still active are about 500, more than all the engineers.

“As an operator of a joint venture with the federal government, management thought it would be difficult to defend their status as employees on the payroll of the company,” our source said.

Company official, hinted ITRealms that as at the time they were issued letters of employment as directed by the Supreme Court, they were informed the company would not be able to carry them in the company’s books as employees going forward.

Rather, our source said, they were told those who are strong enough to continue working would be absorbed through a third party security provider to the company for them to continue working for MPN.

Uboshe Uboshe/GEE

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Glo gets thumbdown for sacking 90 married female staff

ITREALMS:

Glo Mobile has been receiving thumbdown for allegedly sacking over 90 female married staff on the occasion of 2018 International Women Day, reports ITRealms.

Latest in giving Glo knocks and thumbdown is the Public Interest Litigation Initiative (PILI), a non-governmental organization, which said they were hugely pained by Glo sack of these female employees.

A press statement made available to ITRealms in Abuja by the Executive Director, PILI, Prof Adesoji Adesugba, the NGO totally condemned Glo action in its entirety and manifestation, insisting Glo has adversely violated the rights of women as encapsulated in the United Nations (UN) Charter against discrimination on any basis, which Nigeria is also a signatory.

Also, the group said it was annoying to note that a global brand like Globacom “which ought to have stood firmly against such illicit acts by inculcating global best practices in her modus operandi has gotten itself contaminated in an avoidable error of this proportion.”

While recalling that preliminary investigation on the subject matter has thrown up several issues, Prof. Adesugba wondered why Glo could choose to deliberately undermine the letters of Article 30 of the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) which explicitly defined what amounts to discrimination against women.

The statement reads in part: “It is disheartening to hear that these particular set of female staff who have worked very hard to take the company to the height it has attained today could be treated in a needlessly reckless manner. We at PILI find this unacceptable and have taken a legal action to challenge this glitch.

“It is going to be a legal fight to the finish until and unless very urgent and responsible steps are taken by Globacom to restate them back to their various positions with full benefits in addition to paying damages to them for distorting their career path or progress.

“Annoyingly, this unwarranted decision was taken when the International Women’s Day celebration for 2018 was around the corner. This is not only a violation of extant laws governing labour in Nigeria but also a complete deviation from global best practices where women who aspire to reach the zenith of their chosen careers are not only given a chance to excel but also supported to do so.

“The reasons adduced as accounting for their sack in the company is grossly insufficient. Globacom is tactically saying expertise and competence can be easily slaughtered. Let me remind Globacom that the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Number 5 is also aimed at comprehensively achieving gender equality and empowerment of women and girls all over the world.”

As said by him, the time has come for all men of goodwill to rally round women in order to ensure that they successfully overcome any impediments on their way to becoming fully empowered economically, politically and socially.

“We have to start the process of ensuring that, no worker in Nigeria, particularly those affected by this action are not used and dumped after contributing immensely in training, mentoring and track record of service to their employers,” Adesugba submitted.

Chuks Egbune/GEE

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