The Dangote Refinery has re-employed the engineers it disengaged last month during its face-off with the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN).
According to Punch, the affected staff have now been redeployed under Dangote Projects Limited to locations including Borno, Zamfara, Benue, Ebonyi, Niger, Sokoto, and Kebbi States.
Some of the engineers, who spoke under anonymity, said they were instructed to pick up their re-employment and redeployment letters. Many of them, still graduate trainees at the time of their sack, have been posted to coal mines in Benue, concrete road projects in Borno and Ebonyi, and rice plants in the North-West.
“They basically re-employed all of us to these places, under Dangote Projects,” one worker told Punch.
One of the re-engagement letters sighted by Punch, titled Offer of Trainee Engagement, reads partly, “Based on your performance at the assessment and subsequent interviews held with you, we are pleased to engage you as Engineer Trainee (Mechanical Engineering) for the coal project we are executing at Okpokwu, Benue State.
“This engagement shall be subject to the following conditions: You will report to your work location within 14 days upon receipt of this letter.”
It added that the training would last two years, combining classroom and fieldwork, and could be terminated by either party with one month’s notice or salary in lieu. The letters were signed by Femi Adekunle, Chief General Manager, Human Asset Management.
Workers Raise Concerns Over Security
Despite the redeployment, some workers expressed concerns about being posted to high-risk areas.
“The issue with the re-employment is that, firstly, there’s no address to report to on that letter. No office to report to at the states we were posted to. Secondly, those are security hot zones,” one of the workers said.
“PENGASSAN has basically told us not to accept the letters. We should let them continue with their talks,” they added.
An official of the Dangote Group, however, confirmed that the redeployment was agreed upon, explaining that the workers would be absorbed into other business units across the conglomerate.
Last month, PENGASSAN shut down oil and gas facilities nationwide after alleging that about 800 refinery workers were sacked for union activities. The Dangote Group countered that only a few workers accused of sabotage were affected.
The strike caused disruptions in oil production and power generation before the Federal Government intervened, directing the company to redeploy the affected engineers.
It was earlier learnt that the company considered reassigning them to its sugar and cement divisions as part of the resolution.
It remains unclear if some of the previously sacked engineers would be reabsorbed into the expansion project, given earlier allegations by the company that some of them had attempted to sabotage operations “22 times”.
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