Some engineers recently dismissed by the Dangote Petroleum Refinery have denied allegations that they were involved in 22 incidents of sabotage, including attempts to set the multi-billion-dollar facility on fire.
Speaking anonymously, the affected workers described the accusations as “completely false”, insisting that they were sacked for joining the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) rather than for any act of sabotage.
Their reaction comes after the Vice President of the Dangote Group, Devakumar Edwin, during a tour of the refinery on Friday, claimed that some workers had attempted to compromise refinery operations by starting fires and damaging equipment.
“We have been under repeated attacks… There were attempted fire incidents. We have documented data — the dates, units, and the actions,” Edwin told reporters.
“This reorganisation has nothing to do with PENGASSAN. Some people tried to break walls and tamper with instruments, but our safety systems prevented serious damage,” he added.
However, the sacked engineers dismissed the claims as fabrications designed to divert attention from the refinery’s alleged crackdown on union activities.
“If there were really 22 sabotage attempts, people would have been arrested by now,” one of the engineers said.
“From media reports, they said they have evidence — how can you have evidence without suspects?” another worker questioned.
The engineers also refuted any suggestion that they could have wanted to harm the refinery.
“Some of us helped build this refinery. How do you think we would want to bring it down? If there was any sabotage, it certainly wasn’t from us,” one said.
The dispute began after PENGASSAN accused Dangote Refinery of sacking 800 engineers for unionising, leading to a three-week strike that disrupted oil production and power generation across the country.
The Federal Government later intervened, ordering the refinery to redeploy the affected workers to other Dangote Group subsidiaries, such as the cement and sugar plants.
But the dismissed engineers said as of Sunday, they had not been redeployed or contacted by the company.
“We are still at home; no communication so far since our salaries were paid on October 6,” they said.
They also expressed dissatisfaction with the proposed redeployment plan, describing it as a form of victimisation and an attempt to silence their push for union recognition within the refinery.
The Dangote Group has yet to issue an official response to the engineers’ latest claims.
