A nationwide strike in Nigeria, which began Monday by a union of tanker drivers against tycoon Aliko Dangote's refinery, won the support of international organizations on Tuesday and illustrates the tensions between the Dangote group and oil workers.

The strike comes as the refinery, the continent's largest, prepares to hire thousands of drivers to deliver gasoline to retailers.

Since Monday, members of the Union of Oil and Gas Workers (NUPENG) have stopped distributing gasoline.

According to NUPENG, drivers recruited by Dangote will be "forced to sign an undertaking not to join a union," the union said in a statement issued before the strike began.

"That is not true," Anthony Chiejina, Dangote's spokesman, told AFP on Tuesday, describing NUPENG's allegations as "petty blackmail."

Dangote plans to ship its own petroleum products to distributors, using several thousand trucks running on compressed natural gas, bypassing the players already present in this market.

But this major change raises concerns, particularly from the Independent Petroleum Distributors Association of Nigeria, which fears the creation of a monopoly.

For decades, Nigeria, Africa's largest oil producer but forced to import almost all of its fuel, has faced regular gasoline shortages.

The commissioning of the Dangote refinery a year ago, with its capacity of 650,000 barrels per day, changed the situation and ensured a regular supply to the country's gas stations.

The strike, if it continues, threatens further shortages.

"There is no fuel shortage, everything is functioning normally," Chiejina added, adding that mediation negotiations were underway between the union, the government and the company.

The Dangote Group's practices "are not only an attack on Nigerian workers but also a threat to the entire continent (...) which undermines workers' rights," the ITUC-Africa (International Confederation of Labour, the world's largest trade union confederation) said in a statement on Tuesday.

"It is imperative that the Dangote refinery adheres to fundamental workers' rights such as freedom of association and the right to join the union of their choice," said IndustriAll, which represents more than 50 million workers worldwide.

The ILAW Network, a global network of labor rights lawyers, called on the Dangote group "to respect the drivers' rights to join any legitimate organization that represents their interests."

AFP