Oil workers, under the aegis of the Petroleum and Natural Gas senior Staff Association of Nigeria have issued a seven-day ultimatum to the Rivers State Government and the management of Vam Onne Nigeria Limited to either resolve the industrial relations crisis in Vam Onne or have all oil and gas operations shut down indefinitely.
According to the workers, the company in collaboration with some politicians, especially the Deputy Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Honourable Leyii Kwanee, allegedly sponsored thugs numbering over 15, armed with dangerous weapons to harass, manhandle, assault its members and disrupt the peaceful protest organised by PENGASSAN Port Harcourt Zone against the management of VAM Onne Nigeria Limited.
In a petition addressed to Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State, dated February 8, 2012 and signed by the Assistant General Secretary, PENGASSAN Port Harcourt Zone, Comrade Sunday Onyemachi, the workers said: “As a result of this development, our National Secretariat has directed that, after seven days, with effect from February 9, 2012, there will be a complete shutdown of all oil and gas operations in Rivers State.
“If thereafter, the matter is not resolved within the period, the entire 10 states in Port Harcourt Zone, including Abia, Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Bayelsa, Benue, Cross River, Ebonyi, Enugu, Imo and Rivers States will follow suit and this will escalate the crisis.”
The workers alleged that the Country Manager of VAM Onne, Mr. Eugene Fogli, victimised 27 PENGASSAN members who have been locked out for over three months without salaries.
The petition reads in part: “It is pertinent to stress that the Country Manager of Vam Onne Nigeria Limited, Mr. Eugene Fogli, engages in anti-union activities ranging from intimidation, harassment, lockout, victimisation and enslavement of Nigerian workers, flagrant abuse of our extant labour laws, and release of Nigerians from employment without clearance from the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) and more importantly refusal to honour agreement which was held at the instance of Prince of Onne Community, Prince Dr. Jime Osaronu and Mr. Sunday Dudu, at a meeting between the Association and the Management which was held on November 15, 2011 at Novotel Hotel, Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
“The harassment of our members by these thugs was done in the presence of the policemen detailed to monitor our peaceful exercise which commenced on Tuesday, February 7, 2012. The State Security Services (SSS) Onne were also aware of this ugly development. “
They said that since the thugs were armed and had assaulted some of its members, they had to leave the scene to avoid any bloodshed, adding that Fogli has started recruiting new staff to replace PENGASSAN members who were locked out because they exercised their fundamental rights to belong to a trade union.