A major crisis looms in the oil sector as the Petroleum and Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) and Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) have threatened to shut down oil operations if Nigeria Agip Oil Company fails to facilitate the nine years severance payment of Arco petroleum staff.

The unions frowned at the NAOC directives to staffers of Arco to stop working at its gas plants in Rivers and Delta States so that staffers of Plantgeria would take over operation of the plant, irrespective of a federal high court in Port Harcourt directives that both NAOC and Arco should maintain status quo within the determination of the pending suit.

Port Harcourt Zonal chairmen of PENGASSAN and NUPENG, Azubuike M. Azubuike and Godwin Eruba respectively, at the end of an emergency meeting in Port Harcourt yesterday said they strongly condemn the quit order given to Arco Petroleum Company by NAOC to vacate the gas plants at OB/OB, Ebocha and Kwale with immediate effect to give way for Plantgeria to take over the plant.

Both unions leaders who made reference to a subsisting court injunction barring NAOC from taking any action till October 26, 2015, when the dispute between it and Arco would come up for hearing, urged the Presidency, the National Assembly and the Rivers State government to prevail on NAOC to respect the court injunction and stop dehumanisation of Nigerian workers whose entitlements of over nine years are stake if the management of NAOC forcefully evicts them from the gas plants.

They called on General Electric to immediately pay Arco workers their overhaul allowances, which accumulated from 2007 to 2012 at OBI/OB, Ebocha and Kwale gas plants.

According to the unions, it is on record that the General Electric had earlier accepted the payment at a meeting held at Federal Ministry of Labour and Productivity Abuja.

PENGASSAN and NUPENG threatened that there was no way the workers would vacate the gas plants except their severance payment was paid to them.