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NUPENG threatens fuel loading halt over dispute with Dangote refinery
Tanker drivers affiliated with the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) have threatened to suspend fuel loading operations due to escalating tensions with the management of the Dangote Refinery.
The conflict stems from the refinery’s plan to import 4,000 compressed natural gas (CNG)-powered trucks to distribute fuel directly to retailers.
Although the rollout, initially scheduled for August 15, was delayed by logistical issues in China, the refinery confirmed plans to launch the scheme once a sufficient number of trucks arrive.
READ ALSO: Dangote refinery denies shutdown rumours
In a statement signed by NUPENG President Williams Akporeha and General Secretary Afolabi Olawale on Friday, the union accused Dangote refinery management of engaging in anti-labour practices that threaten the livelihoods of its members within the Petroleum and Tanker Drivers Branch.
The union expressed concern over founder Aliko Dangote’s declaration that new drivers for the imported trucks would be recruited without union membership rights. NUPENG condemned this stance as a violation of the constitutional right to association and a breach of international labour laws to which Nigeria is a party.
NUPENG recalled multiple meetings held with the Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners to persuade Dangote to reconsider this position, but said their appeals were ignored.
The statement read in part: “Arising from the unfortunate outcome of the meeting, the leadership of the Union have made several efforts to get relevant institutions of the country to make Alhaji Aliko Dangote and his cousin, Alhaji Sayyu Ali Dantata, follow the line of global best practices and decency, but all to no avail.
“To our utmost shock, Alhaji Sayyu Aliu Dantata’s MRS commenced the recruitment of drivers for the imported CNG trucks on Friday, 29th August 2025. The drivers being recruited are being forced to sign an undertaking not to belong to any existing union in the oil and gas industry. NUPENG is seriously concerned and disturbed with the unconscionable business practices of Alhaji Sayyu Aliu Dantata and Alhaji Aliko Dangote, who are scared of allowing unions to exist in their business outfits.”
NUPENG vowed not to remain passive while the jobs of thousands of workers are threatened. The union highlighted its initial support for the refinery’s construction and commissioning, hoping it would generate employment and strengthen local capacity under conditions supportive of union activity.
The union further stated: “Unfortunately, Alhaji Aliko Dangote has chosen to betray that trust by scheming to monopolise distribution, crush competition, enslave the sector, and raise prices, which would ultimately result in an attack on the living standards of the masses of ordinary Nigerians. This is not philanthropy; it is economic sabotage.”
Calling on regulatory bodies in the oil sector to intervene, NUPENG warned it would instruct members to cease fuel loading starting Monday, September 8, 2025.
The union also announced plans for affected drivers to seek alternative employment and appealed to the public for understanding during the struggle. It urged other industrial unions and labour organizations, including the NLC, TUC, and global federations, to prepare for solidarity actions.
Dangote Refinery’s spokesperson, Anthony Chiejina, has not responded to requests for comment.
This labour dispute arises at a pivotal moment for Nigeria’s downstream oil industry, as the country aims to stabilise fuel distribution and reduce dependence on imported refined products. The $20 billion Dangote Refinery, inaugurated in May 2023 with a capacity of 650,000 barrels per day, has been seen as a transformative project for Nigeria’s energy security.
However, the plan to deploy thousands of CNG-powered trucks has raised concerns about job security among NUPENG members, with the potential for widespread disruption to fuel supply if the conflict remains unresolved.
The echoes of the drums rolled out to celebrate the rescue of the 44 teachers and students, kidnapped from some schools in Oyo State, after 56 days in the bush, would surely be disrupted abruptly, with the divergent echoes of a fresh abduction, this time coming from Kogi State.
Reports indicate that the gunmen, struck on Tuesday at the Government Secondary School, Odo-Ekina, in Dekina Local Government Area of the state, abducting four students, the school principal and a National Examinations Council (NECO) ad hoc staff member.
Authorities of the Kogi State Police Command, who immediately unleashed their operatives in hot pursuit of the abductors, said the attack occurred at about 5:25 p.m. while the students were writing their NECO examination.
Saliu Oyiza Afusat, an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) and spokesman of the command, said a combined team of police personnel and other security agencies has launched a search-and-rescue operation following the incident.
Informing that one of the students was actually rescued immediately, she said efforts were ongoing to secure the release of the remaining victims and apprehend the attackers, adding that Naziru Bello Kankarofi, the state Commissioner of Police, alongside the Brigade Commander and the State Security Adviser to the Governor, Commodore Jerry Omodara (Rtd), were already on the way to the scene for an on-the-spot assessment.
Oil prices are expected to go down now with the announcement of Donald Trump, US President that he will no longer impose a 20 percent “safe passage” fee on ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
The POTUS, hinged his reversal of the decision on the intervention from some Gulf countries, who pleaded with him not to toe the line due to the massive economic impact the decision would make on the region.
Indeed, oil prices had shot up immediately Trump announced the new levy on Monday while declaring the US ‘the guardians of the Hormuz strait,’ a measure which he said was to pay for the cost of guarding the volatile area in order keep supply of oil flowing.
Reports said that Gulf allies of the US worked frantically to get Trump on the phone in time to talk him out of the idea altogether, while a flurry of appeals came from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Qatar.
In response, the POTUS, posting on his Truth Social platform, wrote: “Based on highly productive conversations with Middle East leadership, I have decided to replace the 20% United States Reimbursement Fee with Trade and Investment Deals that the various Gulf States will be making into the United States.”
Trump, who said the investments would be “MASSIVE but, at the same time, extraordinarily good for them, and their future,” added that the deals would see factories, plants, and equipment pour into the US at “Historic levels.”
The Gulf nations have committed to invest trillions of dollars in the US, though it remains unclear how much of that they will actually spend over the next several years.
Meanwhile, the US continues to bomb Iran in what appears to be a resumption of active conflict between both countries, despite an ongoing roadmap to end the conflict.
Reports say operatives of the Osun State Police Command, and those of the Department of State Services (DSS) had tracking the trail of Adeniyi Adeyemi, controversial Director General of the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), for weeks, before he was eventually pulled out of his hole on Tuesday.
However, the duo, were said to have pulled back after failing to track him through his mobile phones, which he had reportedly switched off for about two days, making it difficult to locate him, leaving the stage for the members of the Police Intelligence Response Team (PI-RT) led by Moses Lohor, a Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP).
Lohor, said to have previously served as the Commander of the Anti-Kidnapping Squad of Osun State, and reported to have been involved in high-profile security operations and controversies, after taken over fielded his men to pick up signals from their well-oiled signal networks.
Regarded by many Osun residents as one of the key security officers who contributed significantly to the peace and stability enjoyed in Ilesa and other parts of the state during his tenure, he was said to have relied on his contacts before his transfer out of the state, said to have raised concerns from the public about the security situation he would be leaving behind.
His exit from the state was said to be hinged on an incident in 2024, in which he allegedly shot one Iyanda Alowonle, then Chairman of Osun State Motor Transport System, in the stomach at the police station in the state prompting an order for his arrest by then Inspector General of Police (IGP).
His effort was said to have paid off when he successfully tracked down the controversial PFIPC, boss, who was seen on Tuesday evening, in a shot video on social media undergoing interrogation, and eventually handed him over to Ibrahim Gotan, Commissioner of Police in the state.
The PUNCH quoted one of the sources as saying: “The arrest (of Adeyemi) took place on Tuesday morning by the IRT squad, who immediately moved him to Abuja. After he was arrested, he was taken to Ibadan and from there to Abuja.”
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