Nigerian oil unions have suspended plans to call an indefinite strike over lack of security in the Niger Delta and will meet with President Olusegun Obasanjo on Monday to discuss the crisis, union leaders said on Sunday.
The PENGASSAN union for senior staff and the NUPENG union for blue-collar workers said last week their members in the main oil-producing companies wanted to stop work from Monday because the authorities could not guarantee their safety in the volatile delta.
“We can’t go ahead with the action now, because the president has called us to a meeting. We must listen to the president and see if he has a solution to the crisis,” PENGASSAN national Chairman Peter Esele told Reuters.
The unions had been asking for such a meeting since last September, when they staged a two-day strike that briefly disrupted oil exports from Africa’s top producer. The unions held talks with labour ministry officials on Thursday to pave way for the meeting with Obasanjo.
Union leaders had appeared undecided on Friday about whether the talks with Obasanjo in Abuja, the capital, would stave off the planned stoppage.
Poverty and a total collapse of social services due to rampant government corruption have contributed to militancy and crime in the delta, where many residents resent the multi-billion dollar oil industry.
Violence surged in the delta last year, with attacks by militants shutting down production of a fifth of Nigeria’s oil output. Thousands of expatriates have also fled the region.
The situation worsened in January, and industry executives see the delta, which produces all of Nigeria’s oil, descending further into anarchy as landmark elections approach in April.
Armed groups are holding 29 foreign hostages after releasing on Sunday nine Chinese oil workers, who were abducted last month.
Two foreign workers and many Nigerians have been killed in a spate of violent attacks and robberies. Last Sunday, a four-hour gun battle erupted in the delta’s main city of Port Harcourt as militants raided a police station to free a comrade.
Nigeria’s security forces are unable to control the delta’s maze of mangrove-lined creeks, and major cities such as Port Harcourt and Warri have also descended into anarchy.