Members of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) are currently carrying out a protest over crude oil theft.
The oil workers’ association gathered at the Unity Fountain in Abuja bearing placards with various inscriptions such as “Theme: Chasing Oil Thieves And Vandals Out Of Business, Stop The Stealing and ‘Oil Theft Is Illegal’.
The oil workers are protesting the rising incidents of oil thefts and pipeline vandalization which has seen the country lose huge revenue to these illegal acts.
Earlier on Wednesday, PENGASSAN President, Festus Osifo, had dropped hints that oil workers all over the country would on Thursday protest the menace of oil theft and vandalism and thus threatened to withdraw their services should the government fail to take decisive action against oil thieves.
The PENGASSAN boss noted that crude oil theft had crumbled the economy and the union could no longer hold its breath, stressing that ‘beginning today across four states in Abuja, Lagos, Warri and Port Harcourt, all members of PENGASSAN will embark on a rally across strategic locations to sensitise the nation on the dangers and economic losses inherent in crude oil theft and pipeline vandalism.
He lamented that due to oil theft, Nigeria could no longer meet up with the OPEC quota of 1.8 million barrels of crude oil, even as the country is struggling to produce a million barrels because the products are stolen, while companies are shutting down production.
Osifo said the union had engaged and dialogued with critical stakeholders, agencies of government and service chiefs on how to curb oil theft, stating that despite all meetings, none had yielded the desired result, due to the cartels that are largely feasting on it and crumbling the economy.
To this end, he said the union could not take it anymore, rather than embark on a national rally to sensitise Nigerians on what is going on in the sector and the reason the economy is not growing abysmally.
He said if in the end, no justification for the exercise, the union will pull out the entire workforce in all oil and gas installations across the country, for a total showdown.
According to him, this is the first time crude oil price is hitting the roof of $100 per barrel in the international market.
“This is a menace that is leapfrogging the country. This is the reason Nigeria keeps borrowing to finance the national budget. enough is enough. We have to add our voices to the current struggle. It is not going to be a one-off thing. Companies are shutting down, our members are losing their jobs in services and producing companies.
“The business is that bad now because companies are struggling to sustain the workforce. This is a real crisis the government of the day must develop the muscle and political will to chase out the oil thieves. What is happening is beyond the blame game. This is the time to practicalise what we have been saying. The earlier government acts fact, the better for the economy,” he said.
According to him, over time, the engagement has not yielded any fruit or results, rather the menace continued to bedevil the country.
“After the advocacy rally, our Central Working Committee will appraise the situation after one or two months, if there is no substantial or traceable progress made, the association may be forced to withdraw its workforce from productions,” he said.
“Government must wake up. We want to see tangible evidence and results. The rhetoric must stop. This is the time to practice the talks, government must develop muscle to tackle the menace.”
