They vowed that no amount of intimidation and clampdown would stop them from demanding complete payment of their salaries. The chairman of the oil workers in the state, Chinedu Awuzie, and that of the workers’ welfare committee, Ifeanyi Adakwa, expressed bitterness that they were being harassed and intimidated for demanding their rights. Awuzie said that the slash in their salaries started in January 2020. He said: “In their first protest, the government arrested 15 of us, including pregnant women and detained them for 35 days in prison custody before the court granted them bail. “In the second protest, the government sacked 108 of us in a swoop, alleging employment irregularities.