Workers at Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company Limited (SNEPCo) blockaded the company’s Broad Street office in Lagos on Tuesday, launching a coordinated strike that brought traffic to a standstill and halted access to the premises.
The industrial action, organised by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), saw protesters barricade the entrance and restrict entry to the building — including vehicles carrying senior company officials. Entry was initially partially permitted before being shut down completely.
At the heart of the dispute is what workers describe as systemic pay discrimination against Nigerian employees. A strike notice obtained by this publication accuses SNEPCo’s management of unfair salary benchmarking under its global pay structure and of deploying a “Best-in-Basin” cost-cutting policy that workers say comes at the direct expense of staff welfare.
Employees also took aim at allowances they described as out of touch with economic realities, singling out a N1 million car grant as wholly inadequate given current conditions in Nigeria.
Beyond pay, the workers raised concerns over deteriorating conditions for certain staff categories and alleged that expatriates are being positioned in roles that should be filled by Nigerians. In a striking claim, they drew a connection between mounting workloads, financial stress, and repeated corporate restructuring and what they referred to as “Non-Accidental Deaths” among their colleagues.
The protest lands as SNEPCo continues to wind down its operational footprint in Nigeria through a series of divestments, with its remaining activities now concentrated in Lagos alongside Shell Nigeria Gas.
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