A coalition of student groups on Tuesday staged a peaceful protest in Ibadan, Oyo State, in solidarity with the Dangote Refinery amid its ongoing dispute with major oil unions and marketers.
The demonstrators, comprising members of the National Association of Oduduwa Students (NAOS), the Coalition of Yoruba Students, and the Yoruba Movement, converged at the Iwo Road Roundabout, near the end of the Ibadan-Lagos Expressway, before marching through major routes in the city.
Carrying placards with inscriptions such as “Don’t Kill Dangote Refinery,” “Stop Sabotaging Fuel in Nigeria,” and “Dangote Refinery Is a National Asset,” the protesters expressed support for the refinery and condemned what they described as “sabotage” by certain vested interests.
Wearing matching shirts emblazoned with the slogan “Don’t Kill Dangote Refinery,” the students said their demonstration aimed to draw the government’s attention to alleged attempts to frustrate the operations of the multi-billion-dollar facility, regarded as Africa’s largest single-train refinery.
President of NAOS, Olalere Adetunji, urged President Bola Tinubu and relevant agencies to intervene to safeguard the refinery.
“We want to appeal to the Federal Government to protect the refinery and ensure that labour and marketers’ actions do not derail Nigeria’s move toward fuel self-sufficiency,” Adetunji said.
Security personnel, including police officers and officials of the Federal Road Safety Corps, were present to maintain order during the rally.