National

Over 80 Indians stranded in Nigeria

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Over 80 Indians, some with families, have been stranded in the Ajaokuta steel city in Nigeria for the last 10 days after the federal government revoked the deal that gave control of two state-owned steel firms to Global Infrastructure (Nigeria) Ltd (GINL) for ‘asset stripping.’

GINL is part of the Global Steel Holdings Ltd (GHSL) promoted by Pramod Mittal, the brother of Arcelor-Mittal’s L.N. Mittal. The stranded Indians include 47 employees of the Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited (ASCL) and 20 of the Nigerian Iron Ore Mining Company (NIOMCO).

Among the stranded are those hailing from Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa and Uttar Pradesh. The personnel held up in the city include cooks, technicians, boiler operators, chargemen and general managers.

Many had resigned their jobs in the Bhilai steel plant and other reputed companies to proceed to Nigeria on a five-year contract, lured by the attractive pay packet.

Information reaching the families said the employees were virtually under house arrest in their quarters, two km from the steel city. Armed policemen and security officials of the company were reportedly guarding them, fearing attack from the local Ebira youth.

The GINL had been remitting the salary of the staff to the NRI accounts in India and was disbursing a ‘living allowance’ for their daily expenses. Most of the employees had not been paid salaries for nine months and ‘living allowance’ for six months.

Many were reportedly running out of cash and in dire straits. The only channel of communication was the mobile phone and the Internet. The employees have to wait for hours to get access to the lone computer to sent e-mail to their family.

When contacted over phone, they were reluctant to talk fearing that they would be ‘victimised’ by the management.

The wife of a city-based electrical engineer trapped there told The Hindu that the “company was irregular in paying the salary right from the beginning. We do not know whom to approach and what to do.”

In an e-mail to The Hindu from the steel city, the Indians said they were “awaiting clearance from the interim management at ASCL who are yet to take over so that we can move on from here.”

“We have been promised that all the pending local allowances will be paid. Nothing has been told of the mode and date of payments. As such, we do not know what will happen.”

They said their priority was their safe return and then getting their pending salary and allowances.

Nigerian president Umaru Yar’Adua’s order on April 2 had said that the deal ‘was largely skewed in favour of the concessionaire to the detriment of Nigeria. The deal was signed in 2004 under Olusegun Obasanjo, the predecessor of Yar’Adua.

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