Oil workers threaten to suspend production over crude oil theft, insecurity

Workers in the nation’s petroleum and gas industry, have expressed concerns over the alarming rate of crude oil theft and pipeline vandalism, saying it should no longer be tolerated

The workers, uderthe aegis of Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, and Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association, PENGASSAN, also decried the level of insecurity in the country, especially kidnappings, killings and attacks by the Boko Haram members and resurgence ofviolence in the Niger Delta.

They threatened to suspend production of crude oil and supply of petroleum products should government fail to take concrete steps to address the issue.

Speaking to Vanguard on behalf of both unions, President of PENGASSAN, Babatunde Ogun, said crude oil theft and pipeline vandalism was becoming scandalous and a national embarrassment that needed drastic solution.

According to him: “Despite the presence of the Joint Task Force, JTF, to combat illegal bunkering and granting the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, the power to bear arms to combat product pipeline vandalism, the practice has continued not only unabated but brazenly.