Just in: Sacked workers overrun ExxonMobil Lagos head office, demand justice
Lagos headquarters of ExxonMobil on Ozumba Mbadiwe, Victoria Island was today, Tuesday shut by the company’s workers’ unions following the easing out of about 860 security workers popularly called Spy Police without entitlement and replace them with expatriates.
The aggrieved workers’ protest was further aggravated when they observed that sack targeted Nigerians which violates prevailing expatriate quota in the company.
Majority of the sacked workers were said to have put in over 22 years in service in Spy Police department of the oil major.
In an interview, the Chairman of ExxonMobil Branch of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), Mr Rasak Obe noted the protest was the first step to express the disaffection of the workers with the management, saying workers leadership and members of the union were shocked by the mass sack of security personnel who had faithfully served the company for many years.
According to him, peace can only reign whenever the ExxonMobil management reinstates the employees of the security department and pay all entitlements due to them.
The union leader also urged the management to immediately reinstate the 16 employees purportedly sacked in Dec. 2016 in a similar fashion.
Obe further demanded the immediate release and repatriation of over 20 expatriate personnel in the security department who had been engaged and kept in defiance of extant Nigerian laws and security directives.
PENGASSAN boss argued that the scenario “underscored the scale of error in company’s assessment of the reality after the Supreme Court judgment.
“There are tens more who by the judgment are active employees of Mobil Producing Nigeria (MPN) Unlimited.
“To say the least, this wholesale sack unambiguously conveys management’s disdain for the highest court of the country and mocks its ruling on subject.
Obe said the company was quick to indiscriminately sack Nigerians and replace them with expatriates, taking jobs Nigerians have successfully performed over the decades.
He said expatriate security personnel, many of whom were ex-service men, were currently engaged in the security department against the directives of National Petroleum Investment Management Services and the Nigerian Defence Ministry.
“The cost of keeping one of the over 20 expatriate security personnel in Nigeria would pay one hundred of the Nigerian security personnel currently being repressed.
“This impunity has been raised with HR and Law since February 2018, but the company continues to ignore our advice.
In an interview, the Manager, Media and Communications of ExxonMobil, Mr Ogechukwu Udeagha, confirmed the protest, but averred that “Following the recent judgment of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, Mobil Producing Nigeria would provide compensation packages for affected personnel”.
“And it is offering Human Resource, consulting services to assist with employment opportunities with third parties.
“MPN typically retains security services through third parties who are best positioned to provide these core competencies.
“We thank these individuals for their prior service in supporting the safety and security of our operations in Nigeria,” ExxonMobil media chief noted.
