Some engineers dismissed by the Dangote Refinery last month have refuted claims that 22 acts of sabotage, including an attempt to set the facility on fire, took place.
They insisted the allegations were false, stating their termination was due to joining the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria.
Speaking anonymously due to the sensitivity of the issue, the engineers also questioned why no arrests or prosecutions had been made if the reported sabotage attempts and threats to the refinery’s equipment were real.
During a tour of the refinery on Friday, Dangote Group Vice President Devakumar Edwin reiterated that the employees were dismissed due to acts of sabotage at the facility.
He stated that the company’s reorganisation plan was unrelated to any labour union pressures or activities, including those from the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria.
He added that the refinery had faced repeated attacks, with some workers allegedly attempting to set it on fire or break walls to tamper with the equipment.
“We have been under repeated attacks. Originally, they said the refinery will not even come up. Then they said it will not be commissioned and start production. We went through all those phases. They said we have an issue with PENGASSAN, which is totally false news.
“We started facing incidents of sabotage. We have 22 incidents of sabotage. You are all aware. You have seen fires in the past, even in the Kaduna refinery and some of the other refineries. There were attempted fire incidents. I have the dates, the unit where it was done, and when it was done; all are documented data. You went to the master control room; you know that all the data are completely captured. And in the same way, equipment was tried to be brought down. Somebody will open a wall to try to see if it will break down. Fortunately for us, by the grace of God, it’s a very ultramodern refinery. So, when somebody starts a fire somewhere, the fire protection system works so well that it is immediately controlled. In the same way, when they tried to break down an instrument by opening a wall or adjusting some instruments, some other instrument overruled it and stopped it. But it is documented.
“So, we started looking at it, and then we were a bit concerned that somebody can just bring a major ship down, into which a lot of investments have gone. That is why we did this massive reorganisation. It has nothing to do with PENGASSAN, and I repeatedly emphasise, even the dates or planning, everything is different,” he stated.
In response, the dismissed engineers rejected Edwin’s claims, describing them as false.
“If true, you know it’s a very serious matter, and people would have been arrested by now,” they said.
The engineers noted that if Edwin truly possessed the evidence and documentation he cited, arrests should have been made by now.
“From media reports, they said they have evidence. How will you have evidence without suspects?“ the engineers asked.
They reiterated that none of them had ever attempted to set the refinery on fire or tamper with its equipment.
“I have said it before, some of us built this refinery. How do you think we will be the ones to bring it down? If there was any sabotage attempt, it was not from the engineers. We love the refinery, and we are ready to make it succeed,” a worker stated.
Three weeks ago, PENGASSAN shut down oil and gas facilities, claiming that 800 refinery workers had been dismissed for joining the union.
The Dangote Refinery, however, stated that only a few employees were dismissed for sabotaging the facility, describing the action as part of a reorganisation.
Oil and gas workers went on strike to defend their dismissed colleagues, leading to losses in national oil and gas output and a decline in power generation.
The Federal Government intervened, restoring calm and directing the Dangote Group to redeploy the affected employees.
