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Election Violence: Kaduna Refinery Under Tight Security

By BusinessNews Staff on April 26, 2011

To ensure that the post-election violence in Kaduna State does not result in the closure of Kaduna Refinery and Petrochemical Company, heavily armed soldiers have been assigned on surveillance duty around the refinery to prevent possible attack on the plant or staff on duty posts.

It was also gathered that the workers were escorted back to their homes amid tight security, after working for a total of 12 hours, as against the normal 8 working hours.

One of the workers, who spoke to THISDAY on condition of anonymity, said only staff in Power Plant Unit, Crude Catalytic Unit, Catalytic Reforming Unit (CRU) and Crude Distillation Unit were provided with armed escorts to secure them to their working places and back to their homes.

He disclosed that administration staff and other support services did not enjoy this tight security, apparently because they were not directly responsible for the operation of the refinery.

“The soldiers have the home addresses of all the staff in operations. They pick them from their homes and drop them in the office. Those that they will relieve from duties are also dropped at their respective homes. But the administration staff are not being treated the same way and most of them don’t go to work since the curfew was imposed,” he said.

He, however, lamented that if the 24-hour curfew imposed in Kaduna State was not lifted by this week, the refinery might be closed down as the workers cannot continue to work for 12 hours on one shift.

“It is difficult for somebody to work for 12 hours. We go in the morning and close in the morning of the following day for others to take over for another 12 hours. It is really difficult and if this curfew continues, I don’t think we can continue to work like that. You cannot continue to spend 12 hours in the office. You go in the morning and close next morning,” he added.

He noted that the refinery was closed for about three weeks before the elections and only resumed operation five days to the first election.

On how the crisis started, he said the people started to hear the rumour of impending attack on people affiliated to the ruling Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) on Sunday immediately after the Saturday’s Presidential election, but the actual attack started in the early morning hours of Monday.

Source : Thisday

THISDAY