A strike by Nigerian oil workers has added fuel to the fire in Africa’s biggest oil producer, Nigeria, amid months of an ongoing fuel shortage.
Unpaid staffers at oil stations refuse to work, gas stations are closed across the country, and roads have gone almost empty of cars.
Black market profiteers are selling the fuel at roadsides at four times the regulated 87 naira (40 cents) a liter.
Flights are being canceled at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in the most populous city of Lagos one after another because no fuel is available this week.
At bus stations, out-of-fuel vehicles stand idle creating a challenge for staggering passengers.
Radio stations have also stopped their programs as well due to frequent power outages and the lack of fuel for generators.
Unpaid oil tanker drivers had already gone on strike earlier this month; other industry workers joined them earlier this week.
Nigeria produces more than two million barrels of petroleum a day but imports refined fuel because it does not have enough functioning refineries. The country regularly suffers fuel shortages, but the current countrywide crisis has been unprecedented.
Some critics say the fuel shortage in the oil-rich country is a scam to benefit oil suppliers and ‘corrupt’ government officials.
XLS/HSN/HJL