Dangote Petroleum Refinery
Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals has carried out a sweeping dismissal of employees as part of an internal restructuring process triggered by what management described as “acts of sabotage” and serious safety concerns.
Chief General Manager of Human Asset Management at the Dangote Group, Mr. Femi Adekunle, in an internal memo on Friday, confirmed that multiple refinery units were affected, leading to the decisive action by management.
> “The reorganisation followed multiple cases of reported sabotage across refinery units that posed major safety risks,” Adekunle stated.
He explained that the disengagement took effect on Thursday, September 25, adding that the move was necessary to protect the integrity and safety of the refinery operations.
> “The employees were told to give all company property to their line managers and obtain an exit clearance, with the specific date for the process to be communicated later,” the memo read.
He also directed the finance department to begin processing the exit benefits of the affected staff:
> “The finance department, by a copy of this letter, is advised to compute all your benefits and entitlements in line with your terms of employment and conditions of service, and pay the amount due to you (less all indebtedness), subject to the condition that you have obtained the exit clearance certificate as mentioned above.”
While the exact number of dismissed employees remains undisclosed, inside sources suggest the shake-up may not be unconnected to recent efforts by some staff to unionise—a move reportedly opposed by refinery management.
Earlier, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) had warned of industrial action over Dangote Group’s alleged resistance to allowing employees and tanker drivers to join labour unions.
The union, in solidarity with the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), threatened to halt refinery operations if workers’ rights to organise continued to be denied.
> “All diplomatic efforts had failed to resolve the issue,” PENGASSAN said, warning that it may have no option but to “join NUPENG in shutting down refinery operations to protect workers’ rights and interests.”
