Mkpoikana Udoma
Port Harcourt — A magistrate court sitting in Port Harcourt on Monday granted bail to the President of the National Association of Plant Operators, NAPO, Mr Harold Benstowe, in a protracted labour dispute between Daewoo Engineering and Construction Nigeria Limited and its workers.
Benstowe and three other officials of the association, John Jumbo, Christian Onwuamalam and Monday Ndimbasi were granted bail by the presiding Magistrate of Court 10, Amadi Nnah, Port Harcourt.
Daewoo Engineering and Construction Nigeria Limited is one of the firms handling the construction of the Nigeria LNG Limited’s Train-7 project.
The management of Daewoo had shut its section of the ongoing Train-7 construction site in Bonny amidst protracted industrial crisis with its employees, who are demanding fair labour treatment in line with international best practices from the South Korean firm.
The workers, led by the National President of NAPO, Comrade Benstowe, since September 6 had protested at Daewoo’s section of the NLNG Train-7 project site on Bonny Island, demanding that the management of Daewoo agree to their terms on the treatment of workers.
Following the dispute, the NAPO president and his members were invited by the Department of State Services for a meeting in Port Harcourt two weeks ago, where they were eventually arrested and handed over to Operation Sting Squad of the Rivers State Police Command, which charged them to court the next day.
They were arraigned in court on a two-count charge of conspiracy and economic sabotage by the Nigerian Police, in suit number: PMC/RMP/025A/2022, at the Rivers State Magistrate Court 10 in Port Harcourt before Magistrate Amadi Nnah.
The court had remanded them at the custody of the Port Harcourt Correctional Centre as part of the prayers of the Police which requested more time to conclude its investigation and adjourned the matter to Monday, October 24, 2022.
When the matter came up in court on Monday, after the prosecutor and Legal Officer of Operation Sting, Eniyepere Sikpi, as well as Counsel to the defendants, M. Kalu, had made their submissions, the Magistrate Nnah granted bail to the four defendants.
They were mandated to appear in court subsequently to undergo trials as guarantee for the bail.
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