Secret Reporters No place to hide
Secret Reporters
Freedom of religion is a fundamental human right of every citizen and it’s fiercely protected by the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Sadly, that right has been trampled upon by the management of the Jubilee Syringe Manufacturing Company in Akwa Ibom state.
This has been the fate of staff and workers of the company as their right to religion is being bastardized. Secret Reporters undercover journalist who visited the company authoritatively reported that staff of the company are being forced to work on Sundays even when they’re supposed to be worshipping in church on the said day.
Speaking to our reporter, one of the staff who doesn’t want her name in print stressed that the management, led by Mr Zubeyir Gulabi, a Turkish national who is a Muslim, has made it compulsory for workers to be at work on Sunday and failure to report for work attracts severe punishment. She also maintained that they are encouraged by the fearsome MD to join them in the mosque for prayers on Fridays.
This is a clear infringement on the rights of the workers to religion and apparently, they’re being prohibited from worshiping on days set aside by their religion, which is Christianity.
It’s rather amusing that a Muslim is the head of a supposed government company in a Christian state. Contrary to popular belief that the syringe factory is owned by the Akwa Ibom State Government, our sources revealed that it’s owned by the Turks with only 5% ownership belonging to the state. This account for the reason why the government is not bold enough to name it Ibom Syringe factory, as customary with its sole project like Ibom International Airport, Ibom Hotel and Resorts, Ibom E-Library and Ibom Specialist Hospital.
The Governor’s Chief Press Secretary and Commissioner for Information in their tradition refused to pick calls to respond to our enquiries on the issue.
