Strike Grinds Agip Operation At Obrikom

Contract drivers in Nigerian Agip Oil Company, Obrikom oil field in Ogba /Egbema/ Ndoni Local Government Area of Rivers State, have embarked on an industrial action following the sack of some relief drivers in the company.

Investigation revealed that following the indefinite strike action by the drivers, operations in the strategic Obrikom oil field had been grinded.

L-R: Former Governor of Bayelsa State, Diepreye Alameiseigha; Ijaw Leader, Chief Edwin Clark; Former Governor of Plateau State, Chief Joshua Dariye and Olugbo Of Ugboland, Oba Obateru Akinruntan, during a public presentation of a book on Goodluck Jonathan's 2011 Presidential aspiration in Abuja, on Monday.

A top official of the drivers union who pleaded anonymity, said the strike action was a means of registrating their discontent of the drivers over the non payment of their salaries by the  company for the past three months.

The unionist said, it was regrettable that despite its claim of operating with international best practice, standard, Agip has refused to pay the paltry salaries of the contract drivers for over three months.

He said  the drivers are yoked under casualisation as there was no specified condition of service for them.

He disclosed that the strike action was indefinite and called on the management of Agip to re-instate the sacked drivers and pay the backlog of salaries owned them.

It would be recalled that the zonal chairman, Port Harcourt zone of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), Comrade Godwin Eruba, had raised alarm over the stigma of casualisation among oil companies operating in the Niger Delta, of which Agip is said to be one of the worst culprits.

Comrade Eruba lamented the fact that most companies prefer to contract their staff and treat such without condition of service.

Attempt to contact Agip on phone failed as , the Public Relations Officer of Agip, Mr Okporo did not pick his calls.