Train 7: Daewoo Declares 3-Day Time-Off as NAPO Alleges Tax Fraud

As the industrial crisis at the Train 7 project site of the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Limited (NLNG) over tax deductions continues to escalate, Daewoo Engineering and Construction Nigeria Limited (DECN) has asked its staff to proceed on a three-day time-off.

A memo signed by the management of the company on Thursday, September 18, 2025 and sighted by Kristina Reports in Bonny, Rivers State, asked the workers to resume on Monday, September 22, 2025, while wishing them “A Happy Time-Off”.

Meanwhile, the National Association of Plants Operators (NAPO) says the core issue under review is tax fraud, querying why tax deductions will be made from workers remunerations and receipts not issued.

President General of NAPO, Harold Benstowe told Kristina Reports on Thursday, September 18, 2025 in Bonny that “this anomaly has been a long-standing issue of contention between workers and their management right from the Base project (Train 1).  

“It beggars the question that companies will make deductions from salaries of workers and they will not show evidence of such deductions so the workers can confirm that they are tax compliant. This is something we at NAPO do not understand.”

He stated that NAPO may wade into the matter should the companies affected and their client, the NLNG not resolve the issue as quickly as possible, adding that “workers deserve to have evidence that they have paid their tax and also should have their TIN without much ado”.

Welders and fitters on the Train 7 project had downed tools early morning Tuesday, September 16, 2025, demanding that their employers provide them with their tax receipts and tax identification numbers.   

The industrial crisis continued the next day as other workers joined their counterparts up till Thursday, when DECN, which is one of the Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contractors on the project shut down its section of the project site.

Sources within the project hinted Kristina Reports that the management of Daewoo and Saipem Contracting Nigeria Limited have made frantic moves to contain the situation but met a belligerent workforce, who insisted on having the tax receipts or nothing.

One of the workers, who does not want to be named, stressed that “by January 2026, the Federal Government has declared that you can’t transact business with your bank account without a TIN. So, what happens then with the workers? Should we be stranded?”

The NLNG, SCD JV (Saipem, Chiyoda and Daewoo Joint Venture) and DECN have all declined comments on the issue, just as the National Union of Civil Engineering, Construction, Furniture and Wood Workers (NUCECFWW), Ibani Welders Association and other trade unions which members are involved in the crisis have all kept mute.

A top security source told Kristina Reports, albeit anonymously, that the situation appears to be degenerating with the workers’ stand-off, the companies’ recalcitrance and the growing tension, pointing out that the issue remains germane as the workers’ demand is genuine.

“Workers are supposed to pay tax, and their employers are mandated by government to deduct these taxes. So, what is the evidence the workers can show that they have paid their taxes if they are not issued tax receipts?”

A former labour leader, who also preferred anonymity as he was part of the negotiations, pleaded with the workers to give the companies some time to fix the issue and issue them their tax receipts, appealing that it was not in the best interest of everyone to shut down the project entirely.

A trader at the Agaja market, who only identified himself as Ogoniba, lamented the growing situation, saying the traders and the business community will be the worst hit with the development, appealing to all sides in the matter to reconsider their positions.

It is yet unclear when or how the issue will be resolved as the tax receipts being demanded by the workers track back to as far as when the project started for most of them.

Meanwhile, NAPO through its President General, Harold Benstowe has called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) to probe the deductions and why the receipts were not issued as at when due.