IPMAN Blames Protests for Long Fuel Queues

The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) has attributed the resurgence of long fuel queues at filling stations in major cities to the ongoing hunger protests.

Since last Thursday, Nigerians have been protesting under the banner of #EndBadGovernance, with demands including the reinstatement of fuel subsidies. The protests have led to the deaths of at least fifteen people and the destruction of property in Kano, Niger, Jigawa, Yobe, and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

In response, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu addressed the nation on Sunday, urging protesters to suspend the demonstrations and engage in dialogue with the government.

Oil marketers have pointed to the protests as the reason for the long fuel queues now seen in cities across the country. Chief Chinedu Ukadike, the National Public Relations Officer of IPMAN, explained that the protests, particularly on Thursday and Friday, disrupted the movement of trucks, halted depot operations, and kept truck drivers off the roads. “These issues have disrupted the supply of petroleum products, leading to scarcity at filling stations,” Ukadike said.

Earlier, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) had attributed the fuel queues to a “hitch in the discharge operations of a couple of vessels.”