Fuel crisis: Transporters kick, threaten to occupy NNPL headquarters

Some transport groups on Monday threatened to occupy the headquarters of the Nigeria National Petroleum Limited over the lingering fuel crisis in the country.

In a communique issued in Lagos after a one-day meeting of various associations and made available to DAILY POST on Monday, the groups condemned the persistent fuel and gasoline scarcity with no end in sight.

The groups which identified themselves in the communique as the Commercial Motorcycles Association of Nigeria, (COMAN), Tricycles Owners Association of Nigeria (TOWAN), National Association of Traders of Nigeria, (NASTAN), Luxurious Bus Operators Union (LUBOU), and Trailer Drivers Association of Nigeria, (TADAN) said, their members can no longer cope with the hardship.

The communique which was signed by Boniface Ogwu Ikedi, Dr Basil Ahoade Ekanem and three others urged the Federal government to rise to the occasion before the general election as the situation may stop their members from INEC’s logistics arrangements.

Part of the communique read: “That a three-day warning of civil strike action is issued to the Federal Government to quickly fix anomalies in the oil and gas sector leading to hardship across the country.

“The association has issued a red alert to its numerous members across the six geopolitical zones to occupy the Nigeria National Petroleum Limited, NNPL headquarters located in the Central Business District, Abuja.”

“It’s also inconceivable that fuel is sold at licensed and government-recognised filling stations for N350 to N400 per litre across the six geopolitical zones, which has forced the majority of the members to abandon their buses, motorcycles and the rest.”

They advised President Muhammadu Buhari to remove the NNPL GMD, Mele Abba Kyari and the Minister of State for Petroleum, Timipreye Sylva from office as a solution to the fuel confusion in the country.

The group also condemned the naira scarcity and the total collapse of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN currency swap policy which has also brought untold hardship on Nigerians in a manner that has never been since the Biafra war about 53 years ago.