Protesters on Monday brought parts of Kaduna to a standstill as they marched in solidarity with the Dangote Refinery, accusing a well-connected oil importation cartel and elements within the labour movement of trying to frustrate the country’s nascent local refining drive.
The protest, themed “National Unity Against Sabotage: Reclaiming Our Petroleum Sector for the People,” called for urgent government action to protect the multi-billion-dollar Dangote Refinery from “systematic attacks” by elements of the oil importation cartel.
Marching under the banner of Partners for National Economic Progress, the demonstrators gathered at Murtala Mohammed Square before winding through Alkali Road, Ali Akilu Road, Ahmadu Bello Way and Muhammadu Buhari Way, brandishing placards with messages such as “Protect Local Refining,” “End Fuel Import Cartel” and “Support Dangote Refinery.”
One of the movement’s leaders, Igwe Ude-Umanta, told the crowd that the Kaduna demonstration formed part of a nationwide campaign that began in Abuja on October 2.
Protesters in Kaduna on Monday. Photo Godwin Isenyo
Ude-Umanta described the rallies as a “national liberation effort” aimed at saving Nigeria’s economy from forces he said were determined to keep the country dependent on imported fuel.
“This struggle is against the cartel that destroyed our public refineries, killed the textile industry, and now wants to strangle the Dangote Refinery. We will not let them succeed. The days of holding Nigeria hostage are over,” Ude-Umanta declared to thunderous applause.
Ude-Umanta drew an explicit historical parallel with Kaduna’s once-thriving textile industry, saying the same pattern of sabotage that gutted that sector was being replayed in the petroleum industry.
“Kaduna used to be a textile hub before the same pattern of sabotage destroyed it. Today, they want to replicate that in our petroleum sector by frustrating local refining. We will resist them,” he said.
PANEP leader accused the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria of complicity, describing recent union actions as tantamount to “economic terrorism.”
PANEP urged either an outright halt to fuel importation or the imposition of heavy tariffs to protect domestic refining and related industries.
“Countries that place tariffs are not stupid; they are protecting their economies,” Ude-Umanta said, adding that importers were frightened by the prospect of local refining exposing price manipulation and corrupt practices.
Dahiru Maishanu, who also addressed the rally, said the union’s conduct had gone beyond legitimate labour protest and was instead assisting the importers’ agenda.
“What PENGASSAN did was not unionism, it was sabotage. The Federal Government should have arrested their leadership to serve as a deterrent. We cannot allow people to hide under labour unions to commit crimes against our economy,” Maishanu said.
Protesters in Kaduna on Monday. Photo Godwin Isenyo
The protesters demanded urgent intervention from President Bola Tinubu, who also holds the portfolio of Minister of Petroleum Resources, to ensure that local refineries, notably the Dangote Refinery, are supplied with crude oil on terms equal to those offered to foreign refiners.
“President Tinubu must stamp his feet,” the group said in a statement read at the rally.
“Local refineries must receive crude at the same price offered to foreign refiners. That is key to sustaining the refinery and boosting investor confidence,” he said.
Maishanu also accused the cartel of actively blocking the sale of locally produced Liquefied Petroleum Gas and Aviation Turbine Kerosene, insisting those actions were intended to keep prices artificially high and preserve monopoly profits.
“They are punishing Nigerians to protect their greed. How can importers compete with producers? They are scared because local refining will expose their fraud and end their control over pricing,” Maishanu said.
The demonstrators praised the Dangote Refinery for what they called its early impact on prices of Premium Motor Spirit and diesel, saying ordinary Nigerians were already “breathing fresh air” because of local refining.
They warned that if the refinery were undermined, the consequences would be severe for investor confidence and the wider economy.
“This movement is about economic salvation. If we allow them to kill Dangote Refinery, no investor will ever risk bringing money into this country again. We must protect this refinery as our own,” Maishanu said.
PANEP added the Kaduna leg with a renewed call on the Federal Government to “crush every enemy of Nigeria’s economic progress,” urging swift policy and enforcement actions that would protect local refining capacity and punish those found to be undermining it.
The September 29 meeting between the PENGASSAN and Dangote Refinery management over the ongoing industrial dispute ended in a deadlock after stretching from 4 p.m. into the early hours of Tuesday.
Following the stalemate, the Minister of Labour, Muhammad Dingyadi, announced that negotiations would resume at 2 p.m. on Tuesday.
The follow-up session eventually began at about 3:50 p.m. at the Office of the National Security Adviser and lasted into the early hours of Wednesday, when a breakthrough was finally reached.
The dispute arose from allegations by PENGASSAN that the refinery engaged in mass transfers and sackings of union members, while replacing some Nigerian workers with foreign nationals, accusations the company repeatedly denied.
The federal government waded in to forestall further disruption, citing the dispute’s potential impact on the economy and national energy security.
The Nigeria Immigration Service has announced plans to introduce a Single Travel Emergency Passport, a new biometric travel document designed to help Nigerians abroad whose passports are expired, lost, or stolen return home securely and verifiably.
The Comptroller-General of Immigration, Kemi Nanna Nandap, disclosed this during the Joint Thematic Meeting of the Khartoum, Rabat, and Niamey Processes held in Abuja, which Nigeria co-hosted with the Government of France.
This is contained in a statement issued by the Service Public Relations Officer, ACI Akinsola Akinlabi, on Wednesday.
According to Nandap, the STEP will replace the current Emergency Travel Certificate (ETC) as part of NIS’s ongoing reforms “aimed at strengthening Identity Management and Border Governance frameworks in line with global best practices.”
The CGI explained that “the STEP will serve as a temporary travel document for Nigerians abroad whose passports are expired, lost, or stolen, enabling them to return home in a secure and verifiable manner.”
She noted that “the travel document will be issued at designated Nigerian embassies and consulates abroad and valid only for single entry, reinforcing the Service’s commitment to efficient service delivery and robust identity protection.”
The meeting brought together key stakeholders in migration management, including the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons, NAPTIP, ECOWAS, AU, EU, and representatives of African and European countries.
The high-level forum focused on strengthening collaboration to combat migrant smuggling and human trafficking, emphasising prevention, protection, and prosecution across regional migration routes.
In her keynote address, titled “Insights on Prevention and Protection as Strategic Pillars to Effective Law Enforcement and Prosecution Responses,” Nandap outlined the Service’s broader reform agenda aimed at enhancing migration management systems, international cooperation, and capacity building.
“The Comptroller-General reaffirmed Nigeria’s commitment to regional and global migration dialogues, emphasising that the Nigeria Immigration Service will continue to align its policies and operations with international standards to ensure safe, orderly, and regular migration across borders,” the statement added.
The Institute of Human Virology Nigeria reports significant progress in Rivers State’s Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV, achieving more than 95 per cent HIV testing acceptance among pregnant women between 2020 and 2023.
Project Director of the Rivers ASPIRE Project at IHVN, Dr Stanley Idakwo, disclosed this in Abuja on Tuesday, noting that the achievement reflected years of strategic community engagement and consistent peer mentorship efforts.
Idakwo said data from the District Health Information System indicated that “HIV testing among pregnant women had remained between 95 and 100 per cent since 2020,” following intensive counselling and mentorship.
“This achievement is largely driven by effective counselling, strong peer support, and the mentor mother model that encourages adherence and emotional support.
“About 98.6 per cent of clients also expressed satisfaction with PMTCT services,” he said.
However, Idakwo acknowledged that challenges remained.
“Around 31.7 per cent of women cite distance to facilities as a barrier, 20.1 per cent mention transportation costs, and 16.5 per cent report long waiting times,” he noted.
He explained that those challenges were being mitigated through task-sharing among healthcare workers, improved case management, and integration of PMTCT with broader maternal and child health services across the state.
“Improved staff attitude and shorter waiting times have encouraged more women to seek antenatal care, ensuring better access to HIV testing and follow-up treatment for both mothers and their babies,” Idakwo added.
He emphasised that although maternal and infant ARV prophylaxis had reduced HIV transmission, uptake of follow-up services like facility-based deliveries and antiretroviral use during labour still needed improvement.
“To address this, we’re strengthening health workers’ capacity, improving drug supply chains, and ensuring mentor mothers and midwives jointly monitor pregnant women through delivery and the postnatal period.
“IHVN is also collaborating with the Rivers State Ministry of Health to expand PMTCT services closer to communities and improve access for women in hard-to-reach rural and riverine areas.
“With PEPFAR-CDC and Global Fund support, we’ve trained more than 400 Traditional Birth Attendants across 319 wards, linking them to 115 facilities under a hub-and-spoke service delivery model,” he said.
Idakwo said continuous training for counsellors, expansion of PMTCT coverage to more primary healthcare centres, and enhanced safety for healthcare workers were key strategies for sustaining the recorded progress.
“Our ultimate goal is to ensure no child in Rivers State is born with HIV. Every pregnant woman deserves quality, stigma-free healthcare regardless of her location or social status,” he affirmed.
He added that the IHVN Rivers ASPIRE Project would continue strengthening community partnerships and supporting Nigeria’s goal of eliminating mother-to-child HIV transmission through sustained innovation and collaboration.
The Association of Resident Doctors in the Federal Capital Territory Administration (ARD-FCTA) on Wednesday confirmed the partial payment of salary arrears and the Medical Residency Training Fund (MRTF) by the FCT Administration. Still, it maintained that its indefinite strike would continue until all outstanding demands are met.
In a statement signed by its President, Dr. George Ebong, the association said the payments mark the beginning of the implementation of its demands, though several doctors were still left out of the recent disbursements.
The statement noted that 28 doctors who had been owed salary arrears for periods ranging from one month to one year were paid two nights ago.
The association, however, explained that the Medical Residency Training Fund payment was not made to all affected doctors, leaving 47 others still awaiting their entitlements.
It added that salaries for October were also paid on Tuesday.
The ARD-FCTA is an association of doctors practising in the 14 district and general hospitals, including the Department of Public Health under the FCTA.
The ARD-FCTA began its strike on Saturday following the announcement by its national body, the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors, to commence an indefinite and total strike on the same date.
The doctors embarked on the industrial action to press home their demands for better working conditions, improved welfare, fair remuneration, and others.
Giving details of the government’s response to their demands, the doctors said, “Two nights ago, the 28 doctors who had been owed their salary arrears for more than two years, ranging from one month to six months to one year, were paid.
“Also, the MRTF of some doctors was also paid. Out of 150 doctors owed the MRTF, only 103 were paid; there is a remainder of 47 doctors not yet paid. Salaries were also paid yesterday (Tuesday), starting from the morning.”
While the association expressed gratitude to the Minister of the FCT, Nyesom Wike, for what it described as the beginning of the implementation of demands, it insisted that the indefinite strike would continue until all outstanding issues are resolved.
“Our demands are not exclusive of the immediate payment of the rest 47 doctors of their MRTF as time is running out for their trainings and exams; the immediate payment of the external resident doctors owed six to seven months since they got employed as some have resigned and left due to lack of funds to commute themselves to work; the skipping of arrears that have lingered for years, the promotion arrears that have left lingered for years.
“The Post-Part 2 conversion arrears that have lingered for years; the Consolidated Medical Salary Structure 25-35 per cent adjustment that the Federal Institutions have implemented since; wage award; hazard allowance arrears of 13 months since 2021; the immediate employment; and favourable working conditions, among others.
“These demands are very pertinent to this strike and are also the prerequisite to the suspension of this strike, both at the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors’ level and also at ARD-FCTA.
“While we are grateful for the dialogues that we have been involved in at the National Assembly and the FCTA management, we hope to find a lasting solution to the lamentable situation of our healthcare system,” the statement highlighted.
The doctors urged the government not to always wait for a strike before addressing workers’ grievances.
“Finally, the management and the government should not always wait for a strike to occur before scampering to listen to our yearnings.
“Our sincere appreciation once more to the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, for his leadership and commitment to our country as we continue to work together to ensure that we continue our commitment to the welfare of our patients, while we, as health professionals, are not neglected again.
“However, the indefinite strike continues until other of our demands are met,” it added.
