By Joshua Tosin Ogunsakin 
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has issued a warning to the Lagos State Government and the Dangote Refinery over the alleged recruitment of 89 unskilled labourers from Katsina State to work at the company’s $28 billion facility in Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos.
The NLC, through its Lagos State chapter, described the action as a violation of labour laws and a potential security risk to the host community.
Daily Trust reports that the arrival of the youths was captured in a viral video showing them disembarking from a truck and gathering in front of a company near the refinery. It was gathered that concerned members of the public alerted the police over the group.
However, the Lagos State police command allayed public fears, saying that the young men were legitimately recruited workers. In a statement posted on X (formerly Twitter) on Friday, the command’s spokesperson, Benjamin Hundeyin, stated: “Upon receipt of the information on May 14, 2025, officers from the command immediately deployed to the location to ascertain the facts.
“Preliminary investigations revealed that the young men in question, 89 in number, had arrived from Katsina State and were recruited to work as labourers at the Dangote Refinery in Lekki.”
However, in an exclusive interview with Weekend Trust, the chairperson of NLC in Lagos State, Comrade Funmi Sessi, insisted that the presence of the young men constituted a security threat in the state, adding that bringing them also violated labour laws.
Sessi, who spoke to our correspondent in Abuja shortly after the National Executive Council of the National Union of Food Beverages and Tobacco Employees (NUFBTE) said, “My position is that what the Dangote Refinery did is very wrong.
“These people are low-income earners. The rule of engagement and labour rules have stated clearly that 70 per cent of those in the locality should be given the opportunity while 30 per cent can be given to those who have skills.
“Which kind of skills will they tell us that these people have that the young people who are unemployed in the locality don’t have? Which competence don’t those people in the community have? This is an aberration.
“I believe Dangote can’t do this. He has companies in all parts of this country; why couldn’t he recruit these guys for his company in the northern part and reserve these ones for those in the South, where the refinery is situated?”
The labour leader called on the Lagos State governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu and the Federal Ministry of Labour to call the management of the Dangote Refinery to return the “boys” in order to avert the labour crisis.
She said, “Anyway, this is not the first time he is doing this. Dangote is fond of bringing in Indians and other expatriates as technicians.
He prefers to bring foreigners who don’t even have the knowledge of our own local people. This is unacceptable to us.
“We are already calling him out. This is the first series of it. We are also using this opportunity to tell the government of Lagos State and the Federal Ministry of Labour that Dangote has committed an aberration of the highest order.
“Those guys should be taken back to Dangote’s companies in the northern part, not in Lagos State. If Dangote refuses to do this, we will involve the NLC at the national level to fight this act of bringing 89 unskilled workers to Lagos State.”
We’re investigating- Dangote Refinery
Meanwhile, the Dangote Refinery said it is investigating the circumstances surrounding their presence at the refinery.
“We did not know anything about them. They were brought in by one of our vendors, working in the refinery
“And as you know, for a project of that magnitude, we have so many vendors, working for us.
“We are already investigating the matter too,” said a spokesperson with the refinery in a text message to Daily Trust.