The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has accused the management of Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals of unlawfully sacking and intimidating workers who recently joined the union.
The allegation was contained in a letter addressed to the Zonal Chairman of PENGASSAN, Lagos Zone, and signed by the Caretaker Committee (CTC) of the refinery’s newly unionised branch. The letter, dated Thursday in Abuja, was signed by Mr Eseoghene Choice, CTC branch secretary, and Mr. Abdulfaitai Muhammed, CTC branch chairman.
According to the letter, refinery staff received mass termination notices via email at about 9:59 p.m. on Thursday – just hours after they openly confirmed their membership of PENGASSAN during a verification exercise.
“We regret to inform you that at about 9:59 p.m., workers received a mass termination email,” the CTC stated. It further alleged that the company withdrew staff buses, forcing employees to spend up to ₦4,000 on transport. It added that some unionised workers were denied entry into the refinery premises at around 6:30 p.m., purportedly on the orders of Alhaji Aliko Dangote.
The union also alleged harassment of its leaders. “We intercepted an internal directive ordering the arrest and detention of the CTC chairman by the General Manager of Human Asset Management. This is a direct act of intimidation against union leaders,” it claimed.
The CTC argued that these actions breached Section 40 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which guarantees freedom of association. It described the sackings and alleged intimidation as “victimisation of workers for exercising their constitutional rights.”
Reacting to the claims, Mr. Femi Adekunle, Chief General Manager of Human Asset Management at Dangote Group, denied any link between the dismissals and unionisation. He said the decision was taken on safety grounds, following multiple cases of sabotage in different refinery units.
“Some of the incidents posed major safety risks, and management was left with no choice but to carry out a total reorganisation of the refinery, which led to the disengagement of the affected staff, effective Thursday,” Adekunle said.
