Engineers Plan Nationwide Strike over Killing, Kidnapping of Members

Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja

The Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) at the weekend threatened to embark on a nationwide industrial action if the government fails to henceforth protect its members deployed for assignments around the country.
Speaking during a press briefing in Abuja, to bring their ordeal to public notice, President and Chairman-in-Council, NSE, Tasiu Gidari-Wudil, explained that the killing and abduction of its members had increased in recent years.

He added that over the years, the national secretariat of the organisation has been inundated with reports of abduction and vicious killings of its members from different parts of the country, especially in the South-east region.
The most recent of such cases, Gidari-Wudil said, was the report of the killing of its member, Donatus Ofobuikem Udeh, who was reported to have been abducted on Saturday, April 22, 2023 in Enugu.

 “Three days later, his mutilated, lifeless body and vehicle were found at different locations within 9th Mile Corner, Ngwo, Enugu on Tuesday, April 25, 2023. The late Udeh was, until his demise, the vice chairman of the Enugu Branch of the Nigerian Society of Engineers,” he added.
Previously, in a similar brutal manner, the NSE chair stated that five engineers from NELAN Engineering Consulting Limited were reportedly abducted on their way to inspect a project site in Ebonyi State on November 3, 2021.

He listed the victims as Nelson Onyemeh, Earnest Edeani, Ikechukwu Ejiofor, Samuel Aneke and Stanley Nwazulum.
According to the NSE president, they were reported to be on a supervisory visit to the $150 million, Abakaliki Ring Road project, funded by the African Development Bank (AfDB), when the misfortune befell them.

“Until this moment, there is no closure to that case; the police have not unravelled the seeming mystery behind the disappearance of the hardworking professionals, and there is only a presumption of their deaths in the hearts of their family members and the public.
“Presently, the life of one of our executive committee members is under threat just because she is supervising a project in Ebonyi. There are other similar cases too many to mention,” he noted.

Gidari-Wudil explained that in a country where the pursuit of legitimate livelihood was supposedly guaranteed under the laws, it was a shame to continually witness the cruel killing of NSE members without any respite from the government.
He recalled that the primary purpose of government was the security and welfare of the people, as provided in section 14(b) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended).

“The extent of development or otherwise of any nation is conversely dependent on the degree of value placed on technological expertise and manpower. The engineer changes the world by creating solutions for advancement.
“The engineer saves lives and improves the quality of living by her innovative ideas and inventions. The slain engineers in the examples above were exactly on such patriotic nation-building and economy- stimulating course when they were cut down.
“ It is an irony that such breed of humans would be targeted for such brutality without a convincing counter action by the government to bring the perpetrators to book,” he added.

Just as the Nigerian constitution promises security and welfare for Nigerians, he noted that the Memorandum and Articles of Association (MemArt) of the NSE has also given it the obligation of looking out for the professional development as well as the welfare of its members.

“In going forward therefore, I hereby make an appealing call on the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to wade into the matter.

“We ask that he specifically directs the Inspector General of Police to carry out special investigation on the abduction and killing of Donatus Ofobuikem Udeh, in Enugu, and to also re-open the case of the five engineers of NELAN Engineering Consulting Limited which happened in Ebonyi State in 2021.

“Furthermore, I hereby declare that if no action is done or seen to be done as here demanded, I shall, by the powers vested on me as President and Chairman-in-Council of the Nigerian Society of Engineers, and by the common will of all Nigerian Engineers, initiate an industrial action to protest the insensitivity of government to the plight of Nigerian Engineers and their families,” he added.

 According to him, the government should be able to protect people working on infrastructure to make sure that the life of Nigerians is made easy, lamenting that likewise its members were attacked by Boko Haram in Borno state.

“So government should come to our aid and listen to us. The deadline (for the strike action), I assure you,  is not up to the end of this government,” he stated.