Job Racketeering: Winston Engineering Services Promising Desperate Job Seekers Opportunities in NLNG Train 7, Charging N30,000 for Medicals, Others

A purported recruitment consultant, Winston Engineering Services has been discovered to be neck deep in promising hapless job seekers elusive job opportunities in the Train 7 project of the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Limited in exchange for fees ranging from N30,000 to N50,000.

This discovery was made by Kristina Reports after a sting operation which involved several visits to its office located at Chief Wobo House, directly opposite Vegas Brothers Hotel which is adjacent to Kilimanjaro Restaurant and Market Square Mall along Iwofe Road, Rumuolumeni, Port Harcourt, by Aker Junction.

The company has, however, denied being a recruitment scammer, asserting that it does not demand any form of inducements from job seekers who come to its office.

Chief Executive Officer of the company, Winston Brown, when contacted by Kristina Reports, denied the allegations, saying that though Winston Engineering Services belongs to him, he never asked anyone to extort people for jobs.

During series of visits by Kristina Reports to its office, our team discovered the gimmicks Winston Engineering Services applies in allegedly defrauding job seekers.

These include selling employment forms which applicants must fill on the spot at its office and part with sums of money purportedly for registration, medicals, logistics for induction in Bonny Island, security for armed escort during the trip, among others.

Also, several groups are created on the WhatsApp messaging application for different classes of applicants where Brown sends voice notes with instructions on what his alleged victims should, expect, do or not do.

During one of the visits, a guy who identified himself as Michael Udo with phone number, 08035850683, claiming to be the lead consultant, in a conversation with Kristina Reports’ undercover journalists displayed a list of vacancies available for grabs.

He asked them to choose roles that suit their educational background and be sure of a place on the NLNG Train 7 project, explaining that “we recruit people; it’s NLNG Train 7 Project, it’s a six-year contract. We have about 30 vacancies”.

“Are you graduates? You guys are not welders, so, there are other roles that you can start with. Let me open my phone, sorry I have bad things in my phone, your friend is already looking away, so this is it, go through it.”

After Kristina Reports’ journalists went through the vacancy list, he advised them to go for the role of time keeper, which purported pay for the role as displayed on the list in his phone is N130,000, saying that the position has only one slot left.

They obliged him and after choosing the role, he asked them to bring a sum of N30,000 for medical fee so that it can be prepared for them to qualify for the job.

“No go for the timekeeper position, aim higher, are you guys not graduates? How will you say 100k pay is nice, how old are you?”

“So, after this, you will pick a form for 30k, it’s not registration form, the 30k you are paying for is for induction and medicals and other stuff. Then when they do the medicals, the doctor charges N4,000 for it, then you choose to go to the bank to open a salary account with UBA, at your own convenience but as soon as possible.”  

When the journalists tried to negotiate the price, he insisted on the price, saying they usually charge N20,000 naira in the past for the medicals but the price has increased and it is non-negotiable.

“Initially, we use to take N20,000 but one person’s induction with NLNG will cost N20,000 plus other things”.

He also issued a subtle threat that they have only one slot remaining for that role and the next day being Friday, was the deadline, urging them to pay N20,000 first between then and the following day being Friday, then they can come back the following week on a Monday to complete the balance in order to secure the slot.

“Some people are still soliciting for tomorrow, the slot here will end tomorrow, so by the time they’ll pay up, so” you can pay 20k first then on Monday you cone with the balance otherwise we can’t do much, the job belongs to NLNG”.

When contacted, Michael Udo confirmed being a technical staff of Winston Engineering Services, but denied ever demanding inducement from anyone with respect to giving them jobs, admitting, however, that his company was into recruitments for the NLNG Train 7.

When asked if the recruitment was directly to his company or to any of the companies on the Train 7 project, he declined further statements, directing our Correspondent to his boss, Winston Brown.

The Kristina Reports team observed while interacting with Michael Udo that there were workers recruited in the organization working as secretaries and consultants while the company’s CEO, Winston Brown was staring at them suspiciously from his office.

Brown confirmed to Kristina Reports that he knows Michael Udo but insisted he never instructed him to engage in extortion.

Meanwhile, the place was constantly locked to keep anyone wanting to come in, in check, there were other job seekers coming in turns to seek for employment. There were some mean looking guys outside the office observing everyone coming in or leaving the place.

Checks by Kristina Reports on the website of the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) showed there was no record of Winston Engineering Services as a registered business entity in Nigeria.

In response to general enquiries about Winston Engineering Services, an official of one of the companies handling the NLNG Train 7, who prefers anonymity, described the company and its owners a “Big Scam! And a fraudster!!”

One of the victims, an indigene of Rivers State, who preferred anonymity due to considerations for her safety, told Kristina Reports that “we are many of us who paid him money; I personally paid N30,000 but since early 2022 it’s promises and assurance we have been hearing”.

In response to Kristina Reports enquiry, the Chairman of the Bonny Integrated Recruitment Centre (BIRC), Louis Banigo asserted that it does not have recruitment consultants in Port Harcourt or anywhere recruiting for the centre or companies on Train 7.

He stated that Winston Engineering Services does not have the mandate to employ people, conduct medicals or induction or any other role in the Train 7 project, warning that those doing business with them are at their own risk, urging them to deal directly with the BIRC or the companies.