The redundancy crisis enveloping workers of INTELS Nigeria Limited since 2016 may have boiled over with striking workers blocking the NPA gate Onne yesterday.

The workers, mainly staff of Associated Maritime Services (AMS), a subsidiary of INTELS, led by the Union president, Mr Sunny Atakpo insisted that no one will go out or come in until their entitlements were settled.

A staff of the company who spoke with DFCNews on condition of anonymity yesterday said, “We’ve been faced with serious problems from INTELS and their management over this redundancy thing.

“As I speak, there is an ongoing strike at NPA gate, Oil and Gas Free Zone, Onne, over indiscriminate disengagement of workers without settling them and replacing them with contract workers whom they’ll pay peanuts.

“The strike continues tomorrow although management has called the Union to Abuja this afternoon for negotiations.

Atakpo said that the AMS workers affected are up to 600 noting that “the Management’s plan is to throw them out and pay only terminal benefit which runs contrary to  procedures of redundancy exercise as agreed in the constitution.”

Investigation by the DFCNews shows that AMS provides maritime services to INTELS. They are like contractors to INTELS.

According to the staff that spoke to DFCNews, “A lot of workers you see even in our corporate office are AMS staff but you won’t know. In fact 70% of workers in INTELS facilities Warri, Lagos, PHC and Calabar are AMS.

“AMS staff is deployed to almost all the departments of Intels, most especially at our terminals, operational base. e.g Onne port, Warri port and calabar. Even in security department, 95 percent of staff there are AMS.”

Explaining why the disengagement exercise has continued, the staff said, “The redundancy exercise according to them is due to challenges of long term economic down turn, unfavourable government policies coupled with covid-19 outbreak.

Efforts by DFCNews  to get across to Michael Ndon, the INTELS Human resources Manager proved abortive as at press time.

Intels Nigeria Limited provides comprehensive integrated logistics services for the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry. T he company which had a running battle with the Nigeria Ports Authority over contract vitiation has had its services affected. Analysts believe that the NPA management hit INTELS because of the political ambition of its benefactor, Ahaji Abubakar Atiku, which NPA management has continuously denied.