The Benue State Government has urged the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) to end its ongoing three-day warning strike and resume the sale of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS).
The Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Mrs Deborah Aber, told newsmen on Tuesday in Makurdi that the strike action was uncalled for.
NUPENG, the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) and the National Association of Transport Owners (NATO) embarked on a 3-day warning strike, shutting down all filling stations in Benue.
Aber said that the government received a letter from NUPENG requesting the payment of over N40 million as compensation for the vandalised PMS tank in 2022.
She said the government, upon receipt of the letter, wrote to the police and DSS to get full details of what transpired back then.
The SSG said that the State Government strongly believed that the incident was purely a criminal one and the government was not involved.
She said NUPENG wrote and informed the government of the incident that happened at Aliade in 2022.
“In the letter, they were asking for payment over their 45,000 litres of PMS they lost through the activities of vandals in 2022 at Aliade.
“We needed to sit down and look at the whole scenario and how it played out. Because to us it appeared it was a pure criminal case of theft and vandalism, and the government was not involved in it at all.
“We have held several meetings with them. Surprisingly, we woke up today, and the stations were locked. The government, too, is surprised because we are still at the discussion table.
“When we received the letter, we wrote to the police and DSS to furnish us with what happened that time.
“In the letter, they were claiming payment of over N40m for the loss of their goods in 2022,” she said.
According to her, investigation revealed that the unions embarked on the strike action in demand for the payment of 45,000 litres of fuel that was carted away from a tanker by hoodlums in Aliade, Gwer-East LG, in 2022.
All efforts to get officials of the unions to comment on the strike prove abortive.