PROTESTS: Fuel queues resurface as marketers reveal supply chain disruptions

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The reappearance of fuel queues at filling stations across various states, including the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, has been attributed to the halt in petroleum product supply by dealers amidst the ongoing nationwide hunger protests. Oil marketers, seeking to protect their assets from potential vandalism, ceased operations, disrupting the supply chain and leading to shortages.

According to Chief Chinedu Ukadike, National Public Relations Officer of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), marketers were advised to close their stations during the protests to prevent losses. The supply chain distortion, resulting from the non-movement of trucks and closure of depots, has caused scarcity at filling stations.

“Although the National President of IPMAN, Abubakar Maigandi, urged independent marketers to go out and do their businesses normally and asked the security agencies to protect our facilities, it is pertinent to note that as at the time we were about to sell, we were called by the security agencies to step down the selling of products at that time.

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“They said this is because they want to be able to control the situation during the protest and the vandalism of marketers’ properties. Now that the trucks are no longer moving due to this protest, the depots are not working, the truck drivers are not driving, particularly during the first and second days of the protest, these issues have disrupted the supply of petroleum products. So it will result in scarcity at the filling stations,” Ukadike stated.

Although IPMAN’s National President, Abubakar Maigandi, urged marketers to resume normal operations, security agencies instructed them to suspend sales during the protests to maintain control and protect facilities. The temporary halt in supply has led to fuel queues, highlighting the vulnerability of Nigeria’s fuel distribution network to disruptions.

This development comes after a previous queues incident, blamed on a “hitch in discharge operations” by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, was addressed through stakeholder collaboration. The current supply chain disruption underscores the need for contingency measures to ensure uninterrupted fuel supply amidst civil unrest.

Tags: Fuel, IPMAN, NNPC, Nigeria, Protests, #EndBadGovernance, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Mele Kyari, Bola Tinubu, Oil Sector, Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited