- We’re making moves to compensate him – Company
For 23-year-old orphan, Anthony Effiong, life has been unfair, especially with the various unmitigated unfortunate happenings that have signposted his young life, right from a tender age.
The young man, who hails from Odukpani in Etse Local Government Area of Akwa-Ibom State, lost his parents very early in life. His hopes of getting educated seemed dashed, but with the financial assistance from his relations, which he augmented with his engagement in hard menial jobs in his village, he managed to finish his secondary education.
However, like every other ambitious child, Effiong believed he could make ends meet and go back to school without bothering members of his family anymore, especially when some of them told him they were financially constrained to send him to the university.
Determined to achieve his dream of getting educated, the young man, in company with some of his friends, embarked on a voyage to Lagos to source for the means to get himself back to school.
But unfortunately, life foisted on Effiong an unexpected and very unpleasant situation, as he soon fell victim to a life-threatening incident in a plastic manufacturing company, KGM Chemical Industry, Isolo, Lagos, where he was engaged as a casual worker, earning a paltry N8000 as his monthly salary.
Eventually, the young orphan lost his right hand in the course of his duty at the factory and he’s now left in limbo! Speaking with The Point, Effiong said his ordeal in the company began when he was employed to work at the assembly section, where he functioned for some time.
He added that later, he was redeployed to the injection molding department as a machine/reliever, without prior training, as required by the International Labour Organisation’s rules of engagement.
Effiong said though, initially, he was happy at what looked like an elevation for him, when he was moved from the assemblage department to the molding machine department, he soon began to entertain fear, when on a regular basis, frequent accidents on the machines in the company were recorded with young men losing their limbs.
He said, “At that stage, I wanted to approach one of the management staff to plead with him to redeploy me back to the assemblage department, but I was advised by my colleagues that such a request was viewed as a taboo by the Indian overlords and the consequence was sack.”
Effiong said that the constant fear he had entertained became a reality as he soon fell victim to the machine, which had now rendered him to living his life like that of a beggar to eke a living.
“I had resumed work as usual on the fateful day, but I never had any premonition that danger was lurking around the corner. “The unexpected, however, happened, when, during the one hour mandatory lunch break, my co-operator, one Mr. I K, excused himself to have lunch and because the company forbids operators to stop work on their machines even for a minute, they (operators) take their lunch in turns and so I had to continue working until my partner returned,” he said.
off Effiong’s hand
He alleged further that in the process, one of the management staff of India nationality, whose name he gave as Mr. Kisho, without informing him, increased the speed of the machine and before he could cope with the increased velocity, his right hand was caught and trapped in the machine.
By the time it was put off by the few workers who witnessed the incident, he said, it had deeply lacerated his hand at the wrist region. He passed out almost immediately and was rushed to a private hospital located in a suburb of Lagos, where he regained consciousness a few days later.
For days, doctors at the hospital battled ceaselessly to bring life back to the badly lacerated wrist. But after realising that their efforts were not yielding the expected results, they soon advised that Effiong’s hand be amputated! Effiong, however, alleged that the management of KGM Chemical Industry had abandoned him since the ugly incident, which he said had now turned him to a beggar.
He said, “My lawyer has written to them since they neglected me, and they have yet to respond. My hand is not useful to me anymore as it is no more functioning. I am now a handicap with the right hand chopped off.
Though the company took me to the hospital when the incident happened, since then, they have abandoned me. “As I am talking, they are owing me some months salaries. The situation has subjected me to begging from people before I can eat, since I don’t have the hand to fend for myself. Even my dream of going back to school has remained in jeopardy.”
Bemoaning the young man’s ordeal, Effiong’s elder brother, Robert Akpan, told The Point, “Several months down the line, the management of the company that promised to get the now traumatised young man an artificial prosthetic hand has yet to fulfil its promise and today he moves about with a shirt to cover what has now become his woe.”
But Effiong has vowed to get N50 million compensation from the company for his permanent disability. “I have asked my lawyer to write them, which he did and they have yet to respond. But any moment from now, we will appear in court, because I cannot allow them to ruin my life,” he said.
When contacted, Factory Manager, KGM, Mr. Sarti, said he could not comment on the case, as such matters were usually handled by one Mr. Francis Oyelator, a part time manager in the company. “I am not in any position to talk about the issue. Contact the part time Manager, Mr. Francis Oyalator, who is in charge of cases that involve casual workers,” he said.
Oyelator, however, said that the management of the company had done everything “ humanly possible” to address Effiong’s plight in addition to settling his hospital and medical bills.
”As an employer that has the welfare of its staff at heart, we have assisted him and done what is required of a law abiding employer. So, I don’t know why he is saying that the company has abandoned him,” he said.
Oyalator claimed that the prosthetic hand required by the young man had been fixed by the National Orthopedic Hospital since February 2017 and the bills picked by the company. “The artificial arm has been fixed at Igbobi. His family members and the company doctor are also aware.
So, the issue of him denying what we’ve done about his condition is demeaning for the integrity of the company.” he said. On the allegation by Effiong that the company was owing him salaries, Oyalator said throughout his admission in the hospital after the incident in October 2016 and since his discharge, the company had continued to pay for his appointment checkup.
“Anthony was away on an industrial accident. So, we were paying him. On February 20, he was discharged from the sick list, when he was certified medically fit, which made his salary to be discharged from the sick list. But he was asked to come and resume work on February 21, and he has refused to show up till now,” he said.
Oyalator added that the company was putting in place measures to compensate the young man, as it had begun to work with the insurance firm handling the policy covering the company’s staff.
