Students under the aegis of the National Association of Oduduwa Students (NAOS), Coalition of Yoruba Students, and Yoruba Movement on Tuesday staged a peaceful protest in Ibadan, Oyo State, to express support for the Dangote Refinery amid its ongoing dispute with oil unions and marketers.
The protesters, who converged at the Iwo Road Roundabout, end of the Ibadan–Lagos Expressway, chanted solidarity songs and marched through major routes in the city.
They carried placards with inscriptions such as “Don’t Kill Dangote Refinery,” “#StopSabotagingFuelInNigeria,” “#EndPENGASSAN,” “#EndDAPPMAN,” and “#DangoteRefineryIsANationalAsset.”
Wearing matching shirts with the words “Don’t Kill Dangote Refinery,” the students said their demonstration was to draw government attention to what they called “a coordinated attempt by vested interests” to frustrate the operations of the refinery.
NAOS President, Olalere Adetunji, urged President Bola Tinubu and relevant government agencies to intervene immediately.
“We want to use this period 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.”
Security operatives, including police officers and personnel of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), were stationed around the protest routes to maintain order as the rally continued.