Victor Ezeja
AdminThe Chairman of the Senate Committee on Interior, Adams Oshiomhole, has sounded the alarm that prisoners from foreign countries are working at construction sites in Nigeria, threatening to expose the companies involved in the practice.
He spoke in Abuja on Wednesday when the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, led top officials of his ministry and heads of agencies under his supervision before the National Assembly Joint Committees on Interior for a budget defence session.
Oshiomhole stated that while it was heartwarming that the ministry surpassed its revenue targets on the issuance of expatriate quotas, the policy was giving room for expatriates to steal jobs meant for Nigerians in Nigeria.
The former President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) expressed the fears that if nothing was not done to address the situation, it could lead to a calamity for Nigeria in the nearest future.
According to him, “Your ministry needs to regulate the issuance of the quotas very well as I have it on good authority that prisoners from foreign lands are working in Nigeria as construction workers.
“Many non-Nigerians are in the country, some of them live inside containers. I even believe and dare say it that there are foreign prisoners who are working in Nigeria. They were shipped to our country to serve their prison terms.
“They were being paid according to their country’s minimum wage by the construction industry that brought them. I don’t want to mention the company’s name but if I am provoked, I will mention them.
“Honourable Minister, this is a serious issue, prisoners are not expected to work in their countries if the product or whatever they engage in is meant to be exported.
“In this country today, there are prisoners, they live in containers and they are more from a particular country. Even if their home country borrow us money, they should not take away our sovereignty and they must not distort our commitment to creating jobs at home.
“There are many who come here as tourists. They don’t have work permit and they are working completely illegally while Nigerians are being harassed in their country. The minister has a huge task. Nigerians must be working. They are attending political rallies in their hundreds because they are idle.”
In his response, Tunji-Ojo said his ministry had already come up with the Expatriate Employee Network aimed at safeguarding jobs meant for Nigerians from being stolen by expatriates.
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