03 April 2017, Sweetcrude, Lagos – The Petroleum Tanker Drivers arm of the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, has gone ahead with its planned nationwide strike.
The Petroleum Tanker Drivers, PTD, arm of NUPENG insisted on Sunday that it would proceed with the strike today (Monday), and checks by SweetcrudeReports showed that no fuel tankers were on the roads as at 9.40am this morning.
National Chairman of PTD, Mr. Salimon Oladiti, instructed members to begin nationwide indefinite strike and shut all loading depots and fuel terminals until further notice.
The Chairman, NUPENG, South-West Zone, Alhaji Tokunbo Korodo, also said: “The strike will hold on Monday. We have not received any positive response from the government.”
According to him, tanker drivers all over the country would boycott fuel depots to draw attention to their demands and complaints, including poor salaries, poor state of Nigerian roads, poor sleeping quarters for drivers and insecurity on the highways. He stated that the government was yet to address these issues.
There is, however, an indication that the strike might not escalate as the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, has assured that its management and officials of the union would be meeting later today.
NNPC’s Group General Manager, Public Affairs, Mrr Ndu Ughamadu said: “We have been engaging them and we are scheduled to have a meeting with both sides at 3pm at the Towers (NNPC headquarters) tomorrow (today). Both sides are NARTO and the tanker drivers. You know the tanker drivers have grievances with their employers. Their employers are NARTO members.
“The grievances expressed by the tanker drivers have to do with their welfare and also they are talking of bad roads. But these issues have been on for a while, so we are meeting with them to iron out things.”
