There
has been mass sack of over 3,000 workers in Nigeria’s oil industry as the
country’s economic recession bites harder, two unions have said.
The two major unions in
the oil and gas sector, NUPENG and PENGASSAN, have thus threatened to go on
strike saying over 3,000 of their members were affected.
The unions on Wednesday
issued a 21-day ultimatum to the federal government calling for a halt to the
sack of their members by international oil companies in Nigeria.
The National President
of NUPENG, Igwe Achese, who addressed the media at the end of the Central
Working Committee, CWC, meeting of the union in Effurun, Delta State, said
government must do something urgently to stop the mass retrenchment of its
members to avoid grounding the industry.
Mr. Achese disclosed
that most of the companies – Chevron Nigeria Limited, ExxonMobil, Pan Ocean,
Sapiem, and Hercules oil and gas limited, among others – have terminated the
appointment of over 3,000 of their workers apparently over the current economic
recession in the country.
“More than 3,000 of our
members are affected,” Mr Achese said. “Chevron alone is about 1,500; Mobil is
about 1,000; the entire workers of Hercules Oil & Gas are being asked to go
home; Pan Ocean have since closed shop and are gone.
Industry-wide everybody
are being asked to go.
“We are now asking
ourselves where are we heading with the industry. We have lost so much of
Nigerian personnel working in the oil and gas industry. What is happening in
Nigeria cannot be compared to what is happening in other African countries. We
want government to wake up and address some of these issues.”
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