Tina Amanda
Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Workers (NUPENG) have suspended its strike action slated to commence on Monday, 9 January 2023, across the nation.
The strike resulted from their trucks being set ablaze by Military officers at the Ohaji-Egbema local government area in Imo State.
Earlier in an interview with our correspondent, the National Treasurer of NUPENG, Comrade Alex Agwanwor, lamented the continuous intimidation and harassment meted out to the Union members by security Officers.
Agwanwor said the Union is not happy with the soldiers’ actions at the Ohaji-Egbema checkpoint on Wednesday, 4 January, for burning their two trucks carrying genuine HFO products without any proper investigation or confirmation of the product conveyed.
“Our two trucks loaded HFO product from Waltersmith modular refinery Ohaji-Egbema local government area Imo State, going to Port Harcourt some military officers stopped the trucks accused our members of carrying crude, our members told them it was not crude but HSO and asked the officers to investigate and confirm the product themselves.
“Unfortunately, the soldiers at the checkpoint refused to listen to them; what they did was lose the two truck’s tyres and set the trucks ablaze.
“This harassment of our members by security personnel has continuously happened; we have written a series of letters to security agencies to intervene and set up a task force to determine whether the petroleum products being conveyed in our trucks are illegal or genuine.
“In the case of this incident, it was a genuine product. As a Union, we are so disappointed with such development,
He, however, disclosed that the Union have no option but to shut down its services across the nation, as it can not allow its members to continue to face intimidation on the road while carrying out their legal activities.
“We have never supported any member involved in illegal petroleum activities, and we will not also sit and watch our members doing their job legitimately being harassed. We have to protect our members; we can not expose them to security threats in the quest to carry out their duties.
“We are trying our best to ensure the scarcity around the state is minimized, yet our members are being harassed.
“We do not have any choice than to commence strike on Monday, 9 January 2023; we have given them an opportunity because the product was bought with money, the two trucks are people’s investment, it has to be paid for.
“Government agencies are not helping to grow businesses in Nigeria; that is how people get discouraged from doing business in this country because one will just wake up and see his or her business gone”.
