Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals has dismissed several members of staff in a major reorganisation exercise, following reported cases of sabotage in different refinery units that raised serious safety concerns.

Mr Femi Adekunle, the Chief General Manager of Human Asset Management at Dangote Group, confirmed the development in a document seen by News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Lagos

He noted that the reorganisation followed multiple cases of reported sabotage across refinery units that posed major safety risks.

According to Adekunle, management was left with no choice but to carry out a total reorganisation of the refinery, resulting in the disengagement of the affected staff, effective Thursday, Sept. 25.

He said: “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 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,” Adekunle stated.

While the number of affected staff was not disclosed at the time of filing this report, NAN gathered that the restructuring might be linked to the decision of many of the dismissed workers to join the workers’ union.

Recall that the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), in solidarity with the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), had earlier threatened to shut down Dangote Refinery over management’s refusal to allow tanker drivers and other employees to unionise.

PENGASSAN voiced its frustration with what it described as the refinery’s persistent resistance to unionisation efforts, stressing that “all diplomatic efforts had failed to resolve the issue.”

The union further warned that if the standoff continued, it would have no option but to “join NUPENG in shutting down refinery operations to protect workers’ rights and interests.” (NAN)