ATLAS COVE: NUPENG Pulls-Out Members

Following last week’s  explosion at the  Atlas Cove petroleum products jetty in Lagos, the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), has pulled-out its members form the volatile until its gets assurances of safety from the government.    
The decision to evacuate the oil workers was arrived at after NUPENG’s hierarchy paid a visit to the jetty shortly after the explosion. The Union also said that it would no longer allow its members to continue operations at the jetty since the environment is no longer safe.
Newly elected chairman of Lagos zonal council of the Union, Alhaji Tokunbo Korodo confirmed the decision in a chat with Shipping Position Weekly in Lagos last week.
 “I was at the scene of the bombing and I saw the extent of the damage, it was a very sad thing really and I think it is as a result of accumulated negligence on the part of government. They ought to have provided 24 hours surveillance at that facility, but those boys gained access without hindrance and thereby engaging the security men in gun fight for several hours. However, I have evacuated all my men from that jetty until I am sure that life and properties are safe there” he said.
According to him, it is evident that the jetty is no longer safe for oil workers and that until the union gets assurances, its members would not return.
Korodo has also sounded a word of advice to other existing jetties around Lagos saying that the incident further showed that the government alone is not capable of securing the facilities. My advice to the remaining jetties is that they should not depend only on government security alone, they must ensure that they get their own individual internal security fully equipped”.
He however condemned the unfortunate bombing of the jetty  saying that the federal government meant well for the militants by granting amnesty and that they ought to be grateful and embrace it instead of bringing the fight to the western zone.