Members of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) on Thursday commenced a nationwide protest over crude oil theft.
The union had earlier announced that it would stage a nationwide street rally in Abuja, Kaduna, Lagos, Warri, to protest the impact of crude oil theft, decried high level ‘collusion and connivance’ involved in the crime, which has left Nigeria broke and borrowing heavily to finance its appropriations at a time that oil prices have remained consistently high in the internal market.
In Abuja, members of the association gathered at the Unity Fountain carrying banners with inscriptions such as ‘Chasing Oil Thieves And Vandals Out Of Business and ‘Oil Theft Is Illegal’.
Speaking at the march, PENGASSAN President, Festus Osifo, said President Buhari should give a marching order to heads of security agencies tasked with the security of oil pipelines in the Niger Delta.
He also threatened that oil workers will withdraw their services should the government fail to take decisive action against oil thieves.
