Kano rice mill labourers: We were tortured, humiliated, treated as slaves
‘We were tortured, humilated and treated as slaves’ Not even first aid for injured worker
“They brought one woman who cooks for us (over 300 labourers) and the food wasn’t even free; you must buy. During Ramadan fasting, when people need variety of delicacies to break their fast, we only ate rice and sometimes spaghetti.
“We’ve been subjected to various forms of torture and humiliation, but we have no option. Though someone was able to bring in ‘Mai shayi’ selling tea and bread to us, that’s the only thing we could buy aside from the food they cooked for us. We had no right to buy anything outside the company,” Yahaya added.
These were the narrations of one of the 126 labourers evacuated by the police from a popular rice factory in Kano, Alhaji Yahaya one of the leader of the labourers, along others narrated their experiences while being locked up in the factory for over three months, with many of them describing it as akin to being held in prison.
The company, said to belong to some Indian nationals, allegedly kept over 300 workers locked up in the factory during the lockdown period without allowing them
access to the outside world.
They were allegedly locked down for fear of being infected with COVID-19 when the lockdown was first imposed on Kano. Rice and spaghetti throughout Ramadan
Speaking with Daily Trust Saturday, one of the leaders of the labourers, who identified himself as Alhaji Yahaya, said he has been working with the company for the past three years as a contract staff. He said the company has failed to fulfill its promise after keeping them working day and night for about three months.
“They kept us here for three months without allowing us to even step outside, talk less of seeing our family and relatives, despite being married men,” said Yahaya.
He added that, “Though there is no mosque in the company’s premises, we have to observe Juma’at and other daily prayers inside. No provision for healthcare
In terms of their health and personal hygiene, he said there was no provision for any sick one among them.
“Any person who falls sick would have to look for a way that a medicine could be sneaked into the company for him without the management’s knowledge.
“We could only secretly send some labourers taking out the dust to buy medicines for us. About 20 of us fell sick within that period but no effort was made by the company to either take us to the hospital or take care of us,” lamented Yahaya.
Mukhtar Abubakar, another evacuated staff of the company, said “One of us was even wounded by the company’s machines but could not get even first aid from them. He just kept coping until he finally recovered.”
He said, “In terms of where we sleep, they only provided for a veranda and some mats for us to sleep. We were treated like slaves. When it rains some times, we won’t be able to sleep because of leaks on the veranda. That’s how we have been coping in the last three months.
“What actually baffled us more was when the company said it has been paying us N5,000 extra weekly, that’s not true. We were only paid our basic salary,” Abubakar added.
The workers also expressed fears that the company is threatening to sack most of them, arguing that their number was too large for them to handle.
When asked whether their relatives were allowed to see them during the incarceration, Alhaji Yahaya said they could only send money to their relatives through the company’s security.
“You can only call one of your relatives to come and you give the security some money secretly to give them, but you won’t
see one another.
“My family lives around Kofar Ruwa Quarters in Kano, but I did not set my eyes on them in the last three months. I could only send them money,” Yahaya added.
Daily Trust Saturday also talked to some shop owners close to the factory where the labourers usually buy some items prior to the lockdown.
Salmanu Musa, who owns a business centre beside the factory, said whenever they wanted to buy things like recharge cards or cigarettes, they would have to bribe the security before the commodities could be sneaked in for them.
“They usually call us when they need something and we could only send it to them by bribing the security at the entrance.
“While inside, they kept complaining to us that the food given to them was not only insufficient but also doesn’t taste good,” Musa added.
The workers lamented that they faced different forms of humiliation from the company’s officials.
“I have been working here for more than 10 years, but they are just using us to make money. Sometimes, to even pay you your wages is an issue. For carrying a bag of groundnut that six people must gather before they could help you put it on your head, for instance, we are paid only N35,” said one of the evacuated labourers, who simply identified himself as Yunusa.
“And for a smaller bag, we are paid N20. That’s how we have been living here, yet they don’t regard us as humans. Without us, there won’t be the company, not even productions. Throughout our stay there, there’s no provision for a place of worship,” Yunusa lamented.
Another labourer, who spoke to Daily Trust Saturday on condition of anonymity, said two of the workers who spoke to the press on their plight have been under interrogation at the Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) of the Kano State Police Command since Thursday.
He alleged that they were dragged to the department by the company over alleged plans to defame its character.
“Now, over 200 of our colleagues are enjoying their freedom but these two people that tried to fight for their freedom are plunged into fresh trouble,” he added.
But the spokesman of the police in the state, DSP Abdullahi Haruna Kiyawa, told Daily Trust Saturday that investigation was in progress and the outcome would soon be made public.
Speaking on this development, the director of Global Human Rights Network, Karibu Yahaya, said the case is now with the police.
According to him, “Even yesterday (Thursday), the commissioner of police summoned us on the issue, but we still have a problem with the company as they kept insisting that they have done nothing wrong.
“There is one of them whose name appeared in the newspaper but the company promised to punish him. I had to take him to the police commissioner on Thursday,” Yahaya said.
On the next line of action, Yahaya said the group will wait for the outcome of the police investigation to decide. Our side of the story - Rice factory
When contacted, the Administrative Manager of the rice mill, Kareem Saka, denied all the allegations against the company.
He said, “On Monday, Global Human Rights Network alongside ‘Anti-Daba’, an arm of the police in Kano, stormed our company and found some labourers resting under the shade and rescued some of them…but, 10 minutes after, most of them came back saying that they can’t do without the daily payment.
“All those workers are not even working for us directly, someone contracted them. Even at that, we have been paying them their full wages and even monthly allowances of N5,000 (via their contractors).
“None of them slept at the veranda, we provided them rooms to sleep in. And because most of them are contract staff, they are paid wages, not salaries. They go home with a minimum of N2,000 and a maximum of N6,000 daily.
“Even now, most of them are here working. If we had chained them or were cheating on them, would they come back?” Saka asked.
“We realised that somebody somewhere
is trying to tarnish our good image despite trying to provide job opportunities and following all the laid down rules,” he concluded. We are investigating - NLC
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) in Kano said they are already investigating the issue and are ready to take necessary actions.
In an interview with the chairman of the state chapter of the union, Comrade Kabiru Ado Minjibir, the union lamented that the absence of labour union in the company was the major obstacle.
He said, “We are ready to write to all the relevant authorities concerned, to ensure that they form leadership so that their rights can be protected.”
Minjibir added that the NLC will also write to human rights bodies to look into the issue and see if the rights of the workers were violated.
According to him, if the rights of the workers were violated by the company, the bodies would ensure that they are compensated accordingly.