The national leadership of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas (NUPENG) on Wednesday said it has put its members on red alert over alleged attacks on peaceful protesters in Kaduna State.
It said it was deeply saddened with the violent turn of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC)’s peaceful protests.
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NLC had embarked on a warning strike over the sack of some state government’s workers by the Kaduna State Government.
A statement jointly signed by NUPENG’s National President and Secretary-General, Comrade Williams Akporeha and comrade Afolabi Olawale, called on the federal government to immediately call on the Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, to order before his “arrogance and power-drunk ego” further push the situation into horrendous calamity as he had done in all issues relating to human lives and wellbeing.
The union warned that no labour leaders or workers as the case may be, be harmed, harassed, maimed, humiliated or victimized during the 5-day peaceful protests in the State.
“Our Union is raising this alarm following the very reliable report of the clandestine move of Governor Nasir El-RUfai to hurt and put the lives of NLC President, Comrade Ayuba Wabba and other labour leaders to danger in his usual blind egotistical style of running the government in the State.
“NUPENG, therefore, warns that if any harm is inflicted on any of the members of organized labour, the leadership of the union will not hesitate to call on all our members throughout the nation for a total shut down of all our services in the upstream, midstream and downstream sectors of the oil and gas industry.
“In the light of the above, we are therefore putting all NUPENG members nationwide on red alert and may at very short notice of five hours call for a nationwide industrial action if the situation arises,” it said.