Members of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association (PENGASSAN) on Monday barricaded the premises of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) in Abuja in compliance with the directives from its national executive committee for a nationwide industrial action.
The aggrieved union members are protesting an alleged illegal sack of over 800 Nigerian workers by the management of the Dangote refinery.
The union members sang solidarity songs while gathering at the NNPCL offices.
The union members blocked the gate into the premises, just as their colleagues at the NMDPRA also blocked the entrance into their premises.
It was gathered that the same situation at the headquarters of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).
The Dangote refinery management is yet to comment on the sack of the workers.
In a circular issued after an emergency National Executive Council meeting on Saturday, September 27, 2025, and signed by General Secretary Lumumba Okugbawa, the union accused the refinery of violating Nigeria’s labour laws, the Constitution, and International Labour Organisation conventions by dismissing workers for joining the association.
It alleged the refinery had replaced the dismissed staff with “over 2,000 Indians,” calling the action “an affront to all workers in Nigeria.”
PENGASSAN directed members in field locations to down tools from Sunday, and ordered a total nationwide shutdown across offices, companies, institutions, and agencies from Monday.