Rivers
Manhandled Bus Driver Seeks Justice
A member of Nigeran Union of Drivers Welfare Association in Rivers State, Mr Arowosaye Taofeeq, has cried out over being allegedly beaten and manhandled by personnel of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Rivers State Command, attached to the boundary between Rivers and Imo States .
Narrating his ordeal at the hands of the NCDSC officials, Mr Taofeeq told our correspondent that he was conveying passengers from Waterlines in Port Harcourt to Owerri on the day the incident occured.
Emphasizing that he almost lost his life at the hands of the NCSDC personnel, he said that he was about to cross the NSCDC checkpoint when a boy on mufti hit his car, saying he (the driver) has refused to “comply” as usual.
He said he stopped, alighted from his car, and decided to confront the boy, who allegedly collects money from commercial drivers on behalf of the Corps officers.
“As I was about holding him,the Civil Defence officers on uniform came and started beating me. I asked them my offence, but they said nothing. They handcuffed me, using sticks to beat me.
“They broke my finger while beating me. It was passers-by and passengers who intervened and asked them what my offence was before they removed the handcuff on me.
“I currently have pains all over my body: my head and parts of my body”, he said.
He, therefore, called on the authorities of the NCSDC and the leadership of the State Command to interrogate the officers and do the needful in order to ensure that justice is served in the matter.
Noting that this will serve as deterrant to others in the future, he said he had reported the matter to the commander.
Mr Taofeeq, however, expressed dismay that since he reported the incident to the commander, nothing had been done.
When contacted via phone, the spokesperson of the NCSDC in the State , Mr. Olufemi Ayodele, said he was yet to get full briefing on the matter.
By: Akujobi Amadi
Rivers
Macobarb CEO Cries Out, Says No Indigenous Contractor Can Win Case Against NLNG Or Oil Majors in Nigerian Courts …As Justice Nwogu Throws Out Macobarb’s N5.74bn Claim
Justice Chinwendu Nwogu of the Port Harcourt High Court has thrown out the N5.74bn claim filed by Macobarb, an indigenous contractor, against the NLNG for breach of contract and accumulated losses.
Shedrack Ogboru, the CEO of Macobarb International Limited, who filed the claims since 2022 as one of the claimants, in suit number HC/2013/CS/2022, has however cried out, saying the fate of indigenous contractors in Nigerian courts is doomed.
Ogboru told newsmen outside the court after the shock ruling that the judge abandoned the crux of the matter and the terms of the contract to deny Macobarb the claims.
Showing anger and frustration, Ogboru said he felt he presented tight case to the court to show that the NLNG breached terms of payments and that the breaches caused slowdown of the execution of the contract, but regretted that the judge did not agree with any of his arguments.
Saying many indigenous contractors have died as a result of injustices in the hands of the oil majors, he said only abroad do communities and local contractors get some form of justice, never in Nigeria.
Justice Nwogu had ruled that the NLNG did not breach its contract with the contractor and that the gas company did not unlawfully deny Macobarb payments.
The judge said work executed by Macobarb did not amount to ‘work done’ as stated in the contract terms except the NLNG approved it as so, and that the provision mandating the person recognized as ‘contract holder’ nominated by the NLNG as the one to authorize any dealings with the contractor did not mean that he alone could act for the NLNG as relied upon by the contractor. The judge ruled that the ‘contract holder’ was a mere day to day overseer of the project, and that any official mandated by the NLNG can terminate the contract.
The judge also ruled that the contract did not provide for ‘standdown payment’ and that the NLNG did not cause delays in the execution of the contract as claimed by the contractor.
The judge also ruled that the payment failures by the NLNG that the contractor claimed affected the contract did not amount to an offence or breach of the contract but that the contractor misused the loan he obtained from banks.
In the end, the judge ruled in favour of almost all the grounds submitted by the NLNG and none of the grounds by the contractor, and even tongue-lashed the contractor in most of his rulings.
Reacting, Ogboru said: “My case is presented 100 per cent, the NLNG’s case is zero; but surprisingly, the NLNG has rather been upheld, and Macobarb denied. I pity indigenous contractors in Nigerian courts. We are doomed.”