The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has vowed to picket the $20bn Dangote refinery in Lagos following the dismissal of hundreds of workers it claims were sacked for joining the union.
The association alleged that about 800 Nigerian staff were abruptly terminated on Thursday and replaced by more than 2,000 Indian nationals—many, it claims, without valid immigration papers.
The refinery, however, rejected the accusation, saying only a handful of workers were dismissed as part of a “necessary reorganisation” to curb repeated acts of sabotage that had endangered the multibillion-dollar plant.
A letter circulated on social media and addressed to “all staff” appeared to suggest a sweeping layoff. Citing “major safety concerns” triggered by sabotage in different units of the refinery, the document instructed staff to surrender company property and await further clearance.
PENGASSAN’s general secretary, Lumumba Okugbawa, argued that the timing was no coincidence. He said the workers had only just completed the process of unionisation under federal government direction when the sack letters appeared.
“When the witch cries in the night and the baby dies in the morning, what do you expect?” he told reporters. “Over 800 voluntarily joined the union. The next thing we saw was the dismissal of all Nigerian staff, while more than 2,000 expatriates from India were retained.”
The union described the move as a breach of Nigeria’s Labour Act, which prohibits discrimination in the workplace, and of the Trade Union Act, which guarantees the right of workers to organise. PENGASSAN has demanded the reinstatement of all sacked staff, warning that failure to do so could trigger protests and picketing.
Dangote Petroleum Refinery, in a statement on Friday, insisted its actions were not arbitrary. “This exercise has become necessary to safeguard the refinery from repeated acts of sabotage that have raised safety concerns and affected operational efficiency,” it said.
The company stressed that more than 3,000 Nigerians remain employed and that it continues to hire through graduate trainee schemes and experienced recruitment programmes. It also reaffirmed its commitment to workers’ rights, including freedom of association.
The standoff marks the second time in recent months that unions have clashed with the refinery, following an earlier blockade by tanker drivers seeking to unionise. A court injunction currently bars unions from obstructing operations at the facility.
