Lagos — A new dimension has been introduced into the alleged assassination attempt on the of the Chairman of African Petroleum (AP), Chief Femi Otedola as the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas (NUPENG),workers at the weekend petitioned the Inspector-General of Police, expressing misgivings over the continued detention of two AP Plc, staff, Messrs Celestine Anonobi and Moses O. Abidemi as well as rendering them incommunicado for two weeks after they were arrested.

In a petition through the union's General Secretary, Comrade Elijah Okuogbo, NUPENG faulted the denial of duo bail over a jammed lift in AP Plc Lagos, beyond the permissible limit under the law as it is tantamount to a breach of their fundamental human rights as citizens of Nigeria.

The union urged that in handling the case, the IG should be guided by "the fear of God; the Law of natural justice; the legal perspective which adjudges an accused person innocent until the contrary is proved; the fact that the offence is bailable; that they have their fundamental rights before the law not to be detained beyond twenty four hours and that they are being denied their freedom of movement and access to legal representation."

NUPENG demanded that they be granted bail or arraigned before a court of law if there were evidences to prove that they should be prosecuted, arguing that the union would not succumb to a situation, where workers would be used as guinea pigs or sacrificial lambs to circumvent the crisis of Board-room politics in Africa Petroleum Plc.It appealed to the IG to use his office to address its demand in the interest of industrial peace and harmony in African Petroleum Plc operations.

The petition dated August 25, 2010, read in the part: "We received a joint protest from NUPENG and PENGASSAN members in African Petroleum Plc, Lagos about the arrest of Messrs Celestine Anonobi and Moses O. Abidemi on the 13th of August, 2010 over the trapping of the lift against some staff and visitors including the Chairman of the Company, Mr. Femi Otedola. The union with its robust mind sympathises with Femi Otedola for the shock, the fright, the stress and the embarrassment the jammed lift must have caused him as a human being and as the Chairman at the glass ceiling of AP Plc. This should not be mistaken as the acceptance of guilt on behalf of the two employees.