Contractors under the umbrella of NDDC Indigenous Contractors Association, on Tuesday, crippled business activities at the headquarters of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, over unpaid debts.
The contractors, who were seen with placards with different inscriptions like, “NDDC pay us our money,”; “NDDC contractors are dying,” among others, maintained that all attempts to get their pay had been abortive.
In his remarks, the President of the association, Andrew Ijegbai, describing the action of the NDDC as wickedness, said the contractors, for over five years, have not been paid for the services they rendered to the Commission.
He said it was painful that the projects contractors used their money to execute have been commissioned and put to use, whereas the money invested by the contractors have not been paid back.
According to him, “We are here because we have done jobs for NDDC for the past four years. We have been waiting for our payment, but they are giving us all kinds of excuses.
“As it stands now, we can no longer afford our children’s school fees. We collected most of that money from financial institutions and we used our houses as collateral. Now, the banks are collecting our houses.
“We have pleaded, we have gone to Abuja, but to no avail. If you look at the situation, you will know that we are not working. NDDC has not been like this. Before, once you earn your IPC, you will be paid. But, we don’t know what is happening since the inception of this present board.
“They have seized everything. We don’t even know where we are going to and they are not talking to us.
