An 18-year-old staff of Levant Construction Company Limited, Mr Mission Great Oghenetobore, is currently battling for his life following severe damage to his left leg while on duty for the company at a road construction in Ukwu-Nzu town, Aniocha North Local Government Area of Delta State.
The sad incident occurred in the month of February 2021, while Oghenetobore in the course of road construction by the company in Ukwu-Nzu town and its environs a mixer roller operated by the company ran over his left leg and crushed the said leg in the process.
He was rushed to the Federal Medical Centre, Asaba, where he has undergone two successful surgeries and is still receiving treatment.
From the notice served on the construction firm by the law firm of Ikimi Oghenejabor & Co., Oghenetobore, a secondary school certificate holder and a labourer with the Levant, who has been allegedly abandoned by the company to fend for his medical bills and welfare at the hospital is demanding for full payment of his monthly salary of N72,000.00 (Seventy-Two Thousand Naira) until and after he is discharged and N70,000,000.00 (Seventy Million Naira) as compensation for further treatment and surgeries after his discharge from the health facility.
The notice to the company reads further below:
“It is our brief that sometime in the month of February 2021 your company confirmed our client as a staff of your company with take-home pay of N72,000.00 (Seventy-two thousand naira) per month. Your company subsequently conveyed the above to our client and his parents.
“It is also our brief that in the month of February 2021 or thereabout and in the course of a Road Construction by your company in UKWU-NZU Town and its environs a mixer roller operated by your company ran over the left leg of our client and thereby bursting the said leg in the process.
“It is our client’s further brief that on the fateful day when our client was on your construction site with his fellow labourers, our client was directed by his supervisor to remove a dashboard to enable your company’s concrete mixer to off bad the concrete on site and while our client was carrying out the above instruction and backing the said concrete mixer, same rolled on our client’s left leg thus bursting his said leg and turning the leg backwards, breaking the bones and losing flesh and blood in the process.
“It is our brief that our client was rushed to the Federal Medical Centre, Asaba where he was placed on Oxygen and treatment followed immediately. Our cliént has since undergone two successful surgeries in the above process.
“It is our brief that the first surgery entailed using iron to join the bones of our client’s left leg together and in the process, our client who was in severe pains was administered 10 pints of blood.
“It is our brief that after the said surgery, maggots started coming out of our client’s said leg which necessitated a second surgery in order to avoid amputation. The said surgery was successfully carried out and on the 22nd day of April 2021 your company’s manager, Mr Fadel Ghansan alleged that the company had incurred a total sum of (One million, five hundred thousand naira) for our client’s treatment and that the company would not pay any money again for our client’s further treatment or welfare.
“It is our brief that since the above date, your company had left the treatment of our client for his parents who are subsistent farmers to incur and placing our client on a paltry half salary of N36,000.00 (Thirty-six thousand naira) monthly for our client to fend for his medical bills and welfare at the Federal Medical Centre, Asaba. Photographs of the present state of our client at the said Federal Medical Centre, Asaba are hereby attached to this letter for your perusal and action.
“It is our brief that our client who is permanently incapacitated and deformed as a result of the avoidable accident is presently languishing with his life threatened injuries at the Federal Medical Centre, Asaba. Our client walks with the aid of crutches and sometimes have to soak garri in order to keep body and soul together so as to be able to take his drugs and injections that are not often regular owing to the indifferent attitude of your company towards our client, hence this letter to your company to have a change of heart by taking full responsibility of our client’s medical bills and to henceforth pay our client his full monthly salary of N72,000.00 (Seventy-two thousand naira) until our client fully recuperates.
“It is our brief that the above accident which has caused our client permanent disability would have been avoided if your company had put in place a proper safety guideline on site. Your company has no qualified safety officer or safety protocols on site and the above had resulted in a number of accidents on site.
“It is therefore in the light of the foregoing that, we have the instruction of our client to demand and WE HEREBY DEMAND the following:
“That your company shoulders the cost of treatment of our client at the Federal Medical Centre, Asaba until he recuperates fully.
“That your company, in addition, pay our client his full monthly salary of N72,000.00 (Seventy-Two Thousand Naira) until and after he is discharged.
“The sum of (Seventy Million Naira) as compensation to our client for further treatment and surgeries after his discharge from the above facility.
“We trust you would abide by the above demands of our client as we have his father instruction to seek legal redress against your company, should your company continue to be indifferent to the above plight of our client.”
