Nigeria TV Info — PENGASSAN Orders Nationwide Strike Over Mass Sackings at Dangote Refinery

The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has ordered its members across the country to immediately withdraw their services in protest against the dismissal of more than 800 workers at the Dangote Refinery.

In a statement released on Saturday, the union’s General Secretary, Lumumba Okugbawa, directed members in all field locations to stop work from 6:00 a.m. on Sunday, September 28, 2025. The directive covers operations in control rooms, panels, and outfields, which are to be completely shut down.

“All PENGASSAN members working across field locations are to withdraw services effective 06:00hrs on Sunday, 28 of September, 2025, and commence 24-hour prayers. This includes all control room operations, panel operations, and outfield personnel,” the statement read.

The union further instructed members in offices, institutions, and agencies to halt work from 12:01 a.m. on Monday, September 29, 2025, adding that “no intervention whatsoever will be entertained across field locations except where the safety of personnel and assets is at risk.”

PENGASSAN also ordered that all processes involving the supply of crude oil and gas to Dangote Refinery be suspended immediately. “All IOC branches must ramp down gas production and supply to Dangote Refinery and petrochemicals,” the statement added.

The association framed the strike as both an industrial action and a spiritual campaign, urging members to pray for “courage to those in authority to rein in Dangote and his co-travelers on the need to obey the laws of our country.”

The dispute escalated on Friday after PENGASSAN accused the refinery of terminating over 800 Nigerian workers. The union called on management to reverse the sackings, insisting the mass layoffs violated labour rights and threatened industrial peace in the oil and gas sector.