Oyo: KARMAL’S ASSAULT ON TRUCK DRIVERS EXPOSES THE BROADER PROBLEM OF INDECENT LABOUR PRACTICES IN WORKPLACES

CDWR Demands Prosecution of Those Responsible and Urges Oyo NLC and TUC to Move Beyond Solidarity Visits to Build a Serious Campaign Against Casualisation and Other Anti-Worker Practices.

The Campaign for Democratic and Workers’ Rights (CDWR), Oyo State Chapter, condemns the brutal assault and degrading treatment of a truck driver, Mr Rilwan Olajide, and his motor boy, Mr Taiwo Yinusa, at the premises of KARMAL, an Indian-owned company in Ibadan, on Saturday, 10 October 2026. The incident, reportedly arising from a disagreement over demurrage, has attracted widespread public condemnation. CDWR demands the immediate arrest and prosecution, in accordance with the law, of all those found responsible. No commercial disagreement can justify violence, torture or the degrading treatment of workers or anyone.

However, this incident must not be treated as an isolated case of workplace abuse. It exposes the wider problem of indecent labour practices under which thousands of casual and contract workers, in Oyo State and nationally, suffer exploitation and insecurity. Many private-sector employers use outsourcing and contract employment arrangements to deny workers secure employment, adequate protection and democratic labour rights, leaving them vulnerable to abuse, unsafe working conditions, serious injuries, permanent disabilities and even death.

The experiences of several workers in Oyo State demonstrate the devastating consequences of these practices. In 2020, Richard Gbadebo, a 300-level university student, died while working as a casual worker at Expanded Global Industries Limited, a sister company of Henkel Global. In 2017, Olarenwaju Isaac died while working at a construction site belonging to ALMAK Engineering Limited, whose reported agreement with his family remains unfulfilled. In 2022, Nurudeen Abdulsam was reportedly crushed by a machine while working as a casual employee at Premier Feed Mills. More recently, Ebenezer, a casual worker at British American Tobacco (BAT), Ibadan, lost his fingers in a workplace incident and was reportedly dismissed a few weeks later without a firm commitment to pay his outstanding entitlements.

These cases demonstrate the human cost of a system that treats workers as disposable labour rather than human beings entitled to safety, dignity and protection. Such practices are not confined to the private sector. Attacks on workers’ democratic rights at the Broadcasting Corporation of Oyo State (BCOS), the engagement of academic and non-academic staff at The Polytechnic, Ibadan, under casual employment arrangements, and the reported mass dismissal of workers at Dominion Television/Radio further illustrate the widespread nature of anti-worker practices.

CDWR welcomes the intervention of the Oyo State leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) in the KARMAL incident. However, the incident must become a rallying point for a sustained campaign against casualisation and other indecent labour practices across the state, including the immediate withdrawal of charges that CDWR considers trumped-up against activists involved in defending workers’ democratic rights.

We therefore urge the Oyo State leaderships of the NLC and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) to move beyond solidarity visits and public statements by mobilising workers, youths and civil society organisations to build sufficient, collective pressure on employers and the government to end casualisation, secure decent working conditions and enforce workers’ democratic rights.

However, workers cannot afford to rely exclusively on existing in-house union leadership to lead this struggle. In some companies, union officials reportedly have interests in outsourcing companies or collude with their management to sustain exploitative employment arrangements. The CDWR therefore calls for the formation of an independent, democratic network of casual and contract workers across Oyo State to unite affected workers, expose abuses, defend victimised colleagues and coordinate a reliable, sustained campaign against casualisation and other indecent labour practices. Such a network should be controlled by workers themselves and work with genuine trade unions and other pro-worker organisations to build collective resistance.

Ultimately, ending casualisation and other indecent labour practices requires more than expressions of solidarity. It demands the building of a mass movement that consistently fights against all anti-poor policies and defends the interests of the working class and the poor at workplaces and communities. This must go side by side with the struggle for political power on the basis of a program to end the iniquitous capitalist system that prioritizes the profits and greed of a few over the need of the people for a decent life.

Abiodun Bamigboye (Abbey Trotsky)

Oyo State Coordinator

E-mail: [email protected]