BREAKING: PENGASSAN Shuts Down Oil Sector In Nationwide Strike Over Dangote Refinery Sackings, Alleges Replacement Of 800 Nigerians With 2,000 Indians

Nigeria’s oil and gas industry was thrown into turmoil on Saturday after the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) declared an indefinite nationwide strike in protest against the mass sacking of more than 800 Nigerian workers at the Dangote Refinery.

In a hard-hitting communiqué issued after an emergency National Executive Council (NEC) meeting, the union accused the multi-billion-dollar refinery of engaging in “anti-labour tyranny,” alleging that the dismissed Nigerians had been swiftly replaced by over 2,000 foreign workers from India.

The directive, signed by PENGASSAN General Secretary, Lumumba Okugbawa, described the refinery’s action as a brazen violation of the Nigerian Constitution, the Labour Act, and international conventions on workers’ rights.

> “All PENGASSAN members across field locations are to withdraw their services effective 06:00 hours on Sunday, 28 September 2025, and commence 24-hour prayers. Nationwide shutdown of offices, companies, institutions, and agencies will begin at 00:01 on Monday, 29 September 2025. No intervention will be entertained except where the safety of personnel and assets is at stake,” the statement declared.

The strike order includes an immediate halt to crude oil and gas supply to Dangote Refinery, with directives to international oil companies (IOCs) to ramp down gas deliveries to its petrochemical plants. The move is expected to disrupt production at Africa’s largest single-train refinery, already facing mounting labour disputes.

PENGASSAN further announced round-the-clock prayer vigils, demanding urgent intervention from the Federal Government and vowing that the strike would not be suspended until all dismissed workers are reinstated.

The crisis deepened after Dangote Refinery, in a letter dated 24 September 2025, alleged acts of “sabotage” by certain staff members, claiming their actions posed grave risks to the operational safety of its 650,000-barrel-per-day facility. The company defended the dismissals as part of an internal reorganization designed to strengthen efficiency and security.

However, PENGASSAN dismissed the explanation as a smokescreen, insisting the refinery’s management is deliberately targeting union members to weaken organised labour’s presence in the company.

With the nationwide shutdown looming, fears are rising over potential disruptions in fuel distribution, gas supplies, and revenue losses to the government. Analysts warn that the confrontation, if not urgently resolved, could snowball into one of the most crippling strikes in Nigeria’s energy sector in recent years.