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Mobil, Security Guards At War

This Day (Lagos)
NEWS
April 6, 2004
Posted to the web April 6, 2004

By Godwin Ifijeh
Lagos
Oil firm defies Eket chiefs and elders, IGP's directive on spy police
transfers, Public Complaints Commission's ruling and Amnesty International,
guards drag company to court
It remains to be seen if Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited would obey the court
if it rules against it on the matter, being perhaps the only body that has so
far not taken a decision on it.
For over six years, Mobil and her security guards have been on war path over
their status in the company, condition of service and the general welfare of
the guards.
While Mobil has maintained that the guards were employees of the Nigeria Police
Force (NPF), being under the control of the Inspector General of Police (IGP)
and subject to police disciplinary rules by virtue of the Police Act and
Regulations and having been seconded on the order of the Force to it, the
guards, on the hand, have consistently argued that they were never engaged by
the police, but hired as security guards, sent to the police to be trained as
such by Mobil and until recently when the company applied and procured kites
for them from the police, they were provided a blue upon blue uniform with the
inscription Mobil Security.
The guards further argue that Mobil, in denying them a condition of service and
trying to treat them as employees of the Nigeria Police, was shifting its
responsibility of employment and remuneration to the police, which the police
had long turned down. For eight years, the guards claims, they have not enjoy
any salary increament.
The matter, which was initially between the guards at the oil company's Qua
Iboe Terminal (QIT), near Eket in Akwa Ibom State, and the company, had seen
Mobil, in its many tactics to weaken the men, go through the Akwa Ibom State
Police Command in 2001, to carry out a mass transfer of about 300 of the guards
now styled spy policemen to its other work locations across the country.
However, while many of the policemen complied, 27 were curious. Apart from
questioning the propriety of the then Akwa Ibom State Police Commissioner to
make the transfers when they were no employees of the police, the 27 men, who
refused to proceed on the transfers, wondered why the Akwa Ibom transfers were
done by the police and those carried out in Port Harcourt were by the company.
Mobil consequently wrote to the police in Akwa Ibom to complain of the non-
compliance with the transfers by the 27 men and demanded disciplinary action
against them for refusing to go on the transfer even after collecting N150,000
each as transfer allowance. It stopped their salaries and other allowances till
this day, claiming that in line with police regulations, they had been declared
deserters and subsequently dismissed from the Police Force.
With all repressions carried out to weaken the guards not having the expected
effect on them, the company recently introduced what it called "status
Agreement for Supernumerary Police." The Service Condition Agreement, which it
has been forcing the guards to sign, reads: " In consideration for my
deployment and other additional consideration mentioned in this agreement, I
agree with Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited (here in after referred to as MPN)
as follows: _ I understand that subject to the Provision of Section 22 of the
Police Act, I am a member of the Nigeria Police Force for all purposes and
shall accordingly be subject to the provisions of this Act, and in particular
the provisions thereof, relating to discipline, promotion and transfer.
I have the training, discipline, uniforms and accoutrements provided by the
Nigeria Police Force that equip me to perform the duties of a police officer as
contained in Part IV of the same Police Act, and particularly, for the :
protection of persons and property of MPN, performance of administrative duties
and other duties as may be detailed from time to time.
I also recognise and understand that I am deployed to MPN , having been
appointed as a supernumerary police officer in accordance with Section 8-22 of
the Police Act (Cap 359) and Regulations, Laws of the Federation 1999.
I also understand that MPN has locations and facilities, in Lagos, Eket, QIT,
BRT, PH/Onne and Abuja, and I am prepared to work in any of these locations.
"My current location is ......... I agree and understand that if for any reason
I refuse to transfer to any MPN location other than where I find myself at
present, I shall be ready to return to the State Police Command.
Under the confidential section of the agreement, the guards are compelled to
append their signature and names to a " confidential information" and
declaration, running thus: " I recognise that MPN has valuable and sensitive
information of a proprietary and confidential nature. I also recognise that in
the course of performing my duty with MPN, I may come into contact or have
access to this information. MPN requires that I hold this information in
confidence.
"I hereby agree that except as required by my deployment to MPN, I will not
during or subsequent to my deployment disclose to any one or use any
confidential information or other proprietary information of the company or its
affiliates. I understand that information and materials developed by me or
received by the company from third parties are included within the meaning of
confidential information contemplated by this section.
" I will not disclose to MPN or its affiliates, or cause MPN or its affiliates
to use any confidential information, trade secrets or other proprietary
information, belonging to my previous employers or others to whom I have a
prior obligation of confidentiality".
And the declaration reads: " I have read and understood the above provisions
and do here declare and subscribe to the Official Oath, Police Oath and Oath of
Allegiance as prescribed by the Oath Act for members of the Nigeria Police
Force.
"So help me God".
A hand written order, asking the guards to pick the forms, fill and return to
the admin. office, was issued by a retired Superintendent of Police (SP), Mr.
G. Ariyakude, on February 2, 2004, and directed that completed forms were
returned on February 13, 2004, warning that non-compliance will result in non-
payment of salary.
Obvious to the guards that Mobil was bent on shying away from its
responsibility to them as employer, the guards on March 21, 2004, dragged the
company, the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Commissioner of Police (CP),
Akwa Ibom State and the Nigeria Police Council to court, to seek a declaration
that they were not only employees of the company by virtue of their employment
and activities in the company, they could not be compelled to become employees
of the police and were entitled to a condition of service as employees of the
company .
The guards were therefore asking the court to direct that Mobil recall
forthwith all their members purportedly sent on transfer away from the area of
the Police province or Police District they were each appointed and or employed
'to' protect MPN's property, reinstate with full benefits all their members
purportedly sent away or dropped or not assigned duty post or not engaged and
not paid by reason of their not having gone on such purported transfer
aforesaid, Pay all Salaries, allowances, entitlements and benefits owed, or not
paid to any of them, who refused to go on any such transfer aforesaid' while
asking for an order of perpetual injunction, to restrain mobil from compelling
any of them to sign any document or agreement that may seek to contravene
section 18 (3)(a), (b) & (c) of the Police Act or any law whatsoever
whether Statutory, Common law or the Rule of Equity and from dismissing or
punishing any of them on account or by reason of their refusal or failure to
sign the aforesaid "Status Agreement for Supernumerary Police Service Condition
Agreement"
The decision of the guards to go to court followed Mobile's consistent
disregard for all attempts to find an amicable settlement to the matter.
Flowing from a letter Re: GH. 3100/DF/HO/T.318 of July 20, 1993, which put an
end to employment of spy police by the police and a wireless message of October
15,2001, from the office of the IGP, to all State Commissioners, canceling
transfer of the spy policemen by the Akwa Ibom State Police Commissioner,
stating that recruitment and posting/transfer of spys was the exclusive
preserve of employers of such spys and that the responsibility of the police
was restricted to their training at the request of an employer, the guards had
dragged Mobil before the public complaints commission, Akwa Ibom State, made a
former complaint of the matter to Amnesty International, the Mbugho Mbong Eket,
a body of Chiefs and elders of Eket Local Government and Honourable Nduese
Essien, member, representing Eket/Onna/-Ibeno/Esit Eket Federal Consti-tuency,
House of Representative, in an attempt to make the company rescind all actions
it had taken, hiding under the transfer saga.
Amnesty International, the body of Eket elders and chiefs and Essien all went
into the matter and counselled Mobil to admit that it made a mistake in the
recruitment procedure of the personnel and allow a sense of reasoning to
prevail.
They all advised it to recall all those dismissed or suspended, to resume
salary payments to those whose salaries were embargoed and come up with a
condition of service for the men in view of the police position on the matter,
stating that it was wrong for it to impose the responsibility of recruitment,
posting, transfer of spy policemen on the Nigeria Police against the IGP
circular of CII3100/DFA/HQ/T.3/8 of July 20, 1993, but the observations and
appeals did not make any impression on Mobil.
The Public Complaints Commission even went beyond that. It invited both
parties, tried the case and gave a ruling, which was not obeyed by Mobil.
The Commission's ruling stated that after painstakingly going through all facts
submitted to it by both parties, it came to the conclusion that the
supernumerary policemen at QIT, Eket, were employed by Mobil.
"The issue of who employed them is no more in doubt because we have not seen
one single document to prove that the supernumerary policemen were recruited by
the police. The police was only involved in training as requested by Mobil.
"Secondly, all the documents submitted by the complainants to prove that they
were employed by Mobil were shown to the counsel, representing Mobil and there
was no objection to any of the documents. Mobil should accept that it made a
mistake as human, and should be courageous enough to own it, rather than
bringing the Nigeria Police into the matter, which appears to be purely an
internal affairs of Mobil. As the Nigeria Police did not have any hand in the
recruitment of the supernumerary policemen, it also follows that the purported
transfer by the police was illegal and the cancellation of the transfer by the
Inspector General of Police through a wireless message was a welcome
development.
"Our ruling is that all the staff that rejected the transfer from the Nigeria
Police should be paid all their entitlements. Our decision is based on the fact
that there is no evidence before the commission to show that the services of
the supernumerary police were no longer required. It is also our ruling that
Mobil management has the right to transfer its staff to any of its
installations.
"After resumption of duty, management is at liberty to transfer its staff but
should be guided by section 18(3) (a), (b) and (c) of the Police Act. On the
issue of the one hundred and fifty thousand naira paid to the complaints, this
amount should be deducted from their entitlements.
"Lastly, we...request that the above ruling be complied with in the interest of
equity, justice and fairplay and the commission should be informed
accordingly", the ombudsman solicited, while recommending among others that a
condition of service was put in place for the supernumerary police because it
was rather frustrating to work in any organisation without knowing what is
one's fate, that a reimbursement of funds for payment of the supernumerary
police should be chanelled to the Accountant General of the Federation
according to section 18 (4) (a) (b) of the Police Act, that the Police Act
should be used as a guide whenever the need arises for supernumerary police to
be recruited and that the confusion in the transfer of supernumerary police
should be sorted out by management .
With Mobil not complying with rulings on interventions of this nature, the
crisis had began to assume some ethic colouration, with claims that the
transfer by the police on the instigation of Mobil, which 86 out of the 100 of
those affected were found to be from core communities of Eket , were part of
the company's design to actualise its plan to marginalise the people of Eket.
Hopes are that the court would come up with a judgement that the parties would
willingly comply with to avoid a conflagration of the sort that engulfed Eket
in 1999. We can't afford to forget so soon.

   

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