BREAKING: Shell Workers Embark On Protest, Lock Offices Over Pay Difference, Slavery

Shell workers have embarked on a protest and locked offices over pay discrimination and modern-day slavery, among other reasons, which ignited the actions of the Nigerian oil company‘s staff.

Brand News Day Nigeria reports that the workers of Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company Limited (SNEPCo) in the early hours of Tuesday embarked on a protest, locking the gate to the firm’s office on Broad Street, Lagos.

The early morning protest was coordinated by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN).

According to eyewitnesses, the action, which led to a snarl in traffic around the area as passersby paused to catch a glimpse, had the protesting workers preventing complete access to the Shell building.

After a while, some of the workers were allowed in with their vehicles.

But a change of mind saw the protesting workers barring entry by vehicles, including those of top officials of SNEPCo.

According to a flyer of the strike seen by NewsOnline, the workers accused the leadership of SNEPCo of practicing modern day slavery, discrimination in pay against Nigerian staff, and conscious bias in pay benchmarking in Nigeria.

The workers are also against the policy of the firm in the application of the global pay policy in Nigeria without consideration for local peculiarities, adding that it is “Best-in-Basin” with poor pay.

The Best-in-Basin is about cutting costs, which affects all operational issues, including attending conferences.

For instance, the company was not present at the Nigeria International Energy Summit (NIES) in Abuja in February 2026 as a sponsor.

Rather, it only sent delegates of about five persons instead of the about 40 persons that are accommodated as sponsors.

More so, the organisers were only informed about the development a week before the event.

Other local and International Oil Companies (IOC), including the Nigeria Liquefied and Natural Gas Company (NLNG), Total Nigeria, and Chevron Nigeria Limited (CNL), participated fully at the conference.

The staff are also accusing SNEPCo of giving them allowances that are not market reflective.

They cited car grants as an example.

As a staff member explained to NewsOnline: “Can you imagine a company giving a staff member N1 million to buy a car now?

“Yes, N1 million could look like a huge sum, but it can’t even get you a bicycle, not to mention a car.”

The staff also accused the management of SNEPCo of enslaving their colleagues, whom they classified as SNSS, with poor conditions of service, adding that expatriates were now taking over the jobs meant for Nigerians.

They said there are now several Non-Accidental Deaths (NAD) caused by poor pay, heavy workload, stress, debt burden, and unending reorganisation.

Recall that SNEPCo had a major divestment in Nigeria, with Shell Nigeria Gas (SNG) as its main preoccupation now, which has almost limited its activities to Lagos.

However, it still has AllOn and Daystar as subsidiaries.

They also both operate largely from Lagos, developing the energy sector through financing.

According to a staff member of SNEPCo, the workers made the decision to barricade the office because the management had failed to listen to their demands.

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Another staff member said there was a need for the government to intervene because the management feels no one can hold them accountable and that they could cause division among the staff.

The staff believes two things work in favour of the management.

The first is that before now, the staff had started working from home on certain days of the week.

So staff cannot gather in their numbers daily.

The second is the belief that they can stop any staff action from getting publicised.

Efforts to speak with the company as of press time did not yield fruitful results.