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Good thing these asian employers are being held accountable, some ignorant posters on here would swear the asians weren't corrupt and only Africans were

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allAfrica.com: Nigeria: Chinese And the Abuse of Nigerians (Page 1 of 1)[/url]
Chinese And the Abuse of Nigerians

Daily Trust (Abuja)
EDITORIAL
4 July 2007
Posted to the web 5 July 2007


The arrest in Abuja of two Chinese nationals on Monday 25th June 2007 by officials of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Traffic in Persons (NAPTIP) is one human rights case that should attract the attention of the Nigerian government if only to stop further abuse of its citizens and guarantee their fundamental human rights as enshrined in the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. This particular case reveals how Nigerian workers in their own country are enslaved by their foreign employers.

The two Chinese who own and operate Oceanic Bakeries in Wuse district of Abuja were arrested for abusing the rights of Nigerians working in their bakery. A situation where Nigerian workers were caged like animals near an oven in the bakery and were required, when thirsty, to beg their Chinese manager who would not let them out to drink water, unveils the harsh and dehumanizing conditions to which Nigerian workers are subjected by their foreign employers in major commercial cities of Nigeria. Officials of NAPTIP who had earlier visited the bakery before the arrest lamented that workers had to wait until the cook, another Chinese, came and opened the lock for them to drink water, after which he promptly locked them back. In the event of an inferno under this inhuman environment, workers would be left to burn to ashes especially if the foreign employer or gate-keeper were not around to unlock them. This brings to mind the case of an Indian plastic factory at Ikorodu in Lagos, which some years ago, was gutted by a midnight fire that consumed all the Nigerian employees who, like what obtains in the Chinese bakery, were locked in the company premises by their Indian employers.

It is claimed that these Asian employers cage or keep their Nigerian workers under lock with a view to achieving maximum productivity since the break or leisure time of the workers would have forcefully been absorbed into their normal working hours by the restrictions imposed on their movements. This specifically violates the provisions of article 24 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), which states that "Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay". Other cruel treatments which Asian employers are accused of include the use of drugs on Nigerian workers for purposes of exploiting their skill beyond reasonable working limits permitted by law. It is also alleged that these Asian employers sometimes chop-off the fingers of their workers at any point such workers refuse to comply with operational directives of their company. This goes to suggest that some Asian employers in Nigeria are not better than the fifth century (B.C) Greek sophists, including Protagoras, who regarded slavery and freedom as complementary.

The act of keeping workers under lock is equal in effect to slavery. It is an infringement upon an individual's right to the dignity of human person. It violates sections 34 sub-section 1 (b) and 1 (c) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, which respectively provide that "No person shall be held in slavery or servitude" and that " No person shall be required to perform forced of compulsory labour". The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which is the basic international statement of the inalienable and inviolable rights of all members of the human family, recognizes the right of every human person to liberty, to freedom from cruel treatment, and to freedom from slavery". All peoples of the United Nations which include China and India are state parties like Nigeria to this declaration. The inhuman conditions under which Nigerian workers who seek to earn a legitimate source of livelihood are made to work by their foreign employers violate article 23 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as proclaimed by the General Assembly of the United Nations which maintains that "Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work...".

We call on officials of NAPTIP in collaboration with the National Human Rights Commission to prosecute the two Chinese operators of Oceanic Bakeries in a court of law. They should also extend their searchlights to other companies run by Asians in the country. Foreign employers of labour in Nigeria should be made to understand that while it may be necessary to invite them to invest and contribute to the development of our economy, such must be done with respect to the dignity of the human person in Nigerians. Only then shall we be able to ascertain whether state parties to the UDHR recognize and honour the widest range of human rights at home and abroad.

They should be executed to send a message that us people of African descent will never allow what happened a few hundred years ago ever happen again.

Firing squad anyone?