Nigerian state oil company workers strike over proposed changes

LAGOS: Nigerian oil workers are staging a nationwide strike that has led to a walkout of staff from the state oil company, the head of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) said on Wednesday.

Lumumba Okugbawa said the action was being taken in response to a restructuring of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), announced by the minister of state for petroleum, that will see it divided into five divisions.

An NNPC spokesman could not immediately be reached to confirm the industrial action but a Reuters reporter said gates to the company's head office in the capital, Abuja, were closed as were seven NNPC fuel stations in the city.