22/09/2025
Sterling Global Petrochemical and Fertiliser Limited (SPFL) stands tall as an industrial giant in Ikot Abasi, but what it hides is a plantation of suffering.
What is happening here is worse than the slave trade of old. Back then, our ancestors were carried far away; today, our people are enslaved on their own land.
Go to the site and you will see it for yourself: men labouring without safety boots, welders working with torn gloves, artisans enduring insults and abuse.
Only a few workers are properly kitted; the rest risk their lives daily. When it rains, the company's policy of βno work, no pay" stands. Imagine welders ordered to strike sparks under pouring rain β their gloves soaked, their boots missing, and electricity running through water. That is not work; that is a death trap.
One story makes the tragedy clear. A young community worker was employed by SPFL, then sent to PLNG (a subsidiary of SPFL), passed down to CC14 (China National Chemical Engineering No. 14), and finally attached to CHCI (China Hebei Construction and Geotechnical Investigation Group).
On 17 September 2025, he was electrocuted. Why? He was told to weld inside stagnant water, where live electric cables lay. His gloves were torn and wet. If he had refused, his daily pay would have been deducted, or he would have been marked absent. That young manβs life was gambled away for βtargets.β
This is not an isolated case β it is routine. Workers plead for new gloves or boots, but instead of receiving them, they are threatened with dismissal. Termination is the biggest weapon SPFL uses to silence complaints. Many are employed one day and sacked the next β sometimes for lateness, sometimes for refusing dangerous work, and sometimes for no reason at all.
The worst victims are those in the third-party rung of contracts β the lowest level. They work from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., seven days a week, with no break, no medical leave, and no allowance. Fall sick? You are dismissed. Need a day off? Forget it β
