The federal government has been called upon to investigate alleged decision of oil giant Chevron to secretly quarantine its staff suspected to have been infected by the deadly Coronavirus in a hotel located in Delta state.
The action, sources argued was a plot by the oil firm to cover up the statuses of its staff, believed to have been infected in countries with very high cases of the COVID-19.
Armada News gathered that the workers including fulltime staff and contract staff were quarantined in the hotel, believed to be owned by a retired police officer because of the existing business relationship with the oil firm.
But those who spoke on the development have expressed worries about the fate of other guests and hotel staff who are not aware of the situation and might not have taken steps to prevent themselves from close contacts with the oil firm’s staff.
A source who frowned on the development noted that the US oil firm always kicks against Nigerian government’s directives whether it has to do with rules and regulations for oil firms operating in Nigeria or tax and royalty payments.
According to a source, whereas the company complies with the US rules, it has the penchant to flout Nigeria’s laws and kicks against any rule or guidelines that will make Nigeria reap from its oil resources.
He said with the secret quarantine arrangement, there was no guarantee that the right thing would be done, pointing out that this could further escalate the problem in Delta state and Nigeria as a whole.
It was also learnt that the management of the hotel, identified as Cyprian Hotels and Suites, has denied the report, which was said to have been ‘tactically’ confirmed by Delta State authorities.
An oil industry analyst urged the government to investigate the matter and impose sanctions where necessary.
“This is not in the interest of anyone. If Chevron actually did that without authorization of the NCDC or Delta state government, then the company should be penalised for it.”
Efforts by Armada News to reach the oil firm’s corporate communication department for comments were not successful. Also, one of the staff of the department, said to be in charge of the media, did not return telephone calls and SMS.