The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has ordered its members across key oil and gas companies to halt supply of crude oil and gas to the Dangote Petroleum Refinery.
In a memo issued to branch chairmen in TotalEnergies, Renaissances, Chevron, Shell Nigeria Gas, Oando, and Seplat Producing Nigeria Unlimited, the union directed the immediate shutdown of valves and suspension of all crude loading operations to the facility.
“INGC chairman, ensure that gas supply to the refinery is cut off effective immediately,” the directive read in part.
The move comes just days after the Dangote Refinery disengaged about 800 workers, describing the exercise as part of an ongoing reorganisation to protect the facility from repeated acts of sabotage that had raised safety concerns and hampered operations.
The union threatened to explore all options if the management of the 650,000 barrel-per-day refinery fails to recall the sacked workers.
Dangote Group in a statement on Friday confirmed the sack, noting that the action became necessary to safeguard the refinery from ‘repeated acts of sabotage’.
The company did not give detail of the exact number of staff sacked and their offence it termed as acts of sabotage.
On their part, the sacked workers in a viral letter on Friday detailed how Dangote Refinery allegedly victimised them for voluntarily belonging to a union as prescribed by Nigeria’s Constitution.
PENGASSAN further alleged that Dangote refinery has replaced the 800 sacked Nigerians with 2,000 Indians.
The union said it had summoned an emergency National Executive Council meeting to decide on the best approach to reverse the Dangote Refinery’s action meted out on Nigerian workers.
