IPMAN, NUPENG suspend strike in Osun and Oyo … meet with police over ‘harassment’

Members of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) and the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) in Oyo and Osun states have suspended their strike due to police harassment.

According to NAN, the suspension of the strike is contained in a statement signed on Monday by Mutiu Bukola, chairman of IPMAN, and Hammed Hamzat, chairman of NUPENG’s branch of Tanker Drivers (PTD).

Other members include Surajudeen Adegoke, Chairman, Independent Marketers Branch (IMB) of NUPENG, and Olalekan Lawal, Vice Chairman, IPMAN.

On July 13, IPMAN and NUPENG stopped Operations due to “harassment and blackmail of members by the police”.

The associations unanimously condemned the deployment of the “surveillance team of the Inspector General of Police (IGP)” on the highway, which “obstructed the transport of petroleum products” from the depot to the petrol stations in the two states.

They also demanded the immediate release of a driver and a truck that the associations said were illegally detained by the group.

IPMAN and NUPENG said their decision to suspend the strike was due to the intervention of various stakeholders, including their Zonal Heads and the Osun Police Commissioner, who enabled the release of the arrested driver and his truck.

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“We were able to count on the intervention of PTD, IMB and IPMAN stakeholders from the Western Zone on the issues we raised and 70 percent of our demands were met,” the association said.

“In addition, the Osun Police Commissioner has invited the unions to a round table on July 15 to address other issues bordering on harassment and extortion.

“We are suspending the strike to allow for dialogue and resolution of the issues of bullying, harassment and extortion that we have raised with respect to the IGP monitoring team.”

IPMAN and NUPENG said the strike was suspended to buy time to improve understanding and working conditions with the Nigeria Police Force, adding that the outcome of the meeting would be communicated to the press.

They also thanked the industry stakeholders, including the Zonal Councils of PTD, IMB and IPMAN, as well as their members from the three unions, for their cooperation.

The association reiterated its opposition to the IGP surveillance team on the highway, adding that the team should instead focus on its main tasks of curbing vandalism and illegal bunkering of petroleum products.