Thousands of protesters, comprising students, workers, women, youths, and members of civil society organisations, stormed the Niger Bridge at the boundary between Asaba in Delta and Onitsha in Anambra State to demand support for local refineries, including that of the Dangote Refinery.
Protesters who carried various placards with inscriptions such as Stop Petroleum Importation Now; Encourage Local Refineries; Oil Cartels, stop the Sabotage; Dangote Refinery is a Blessing to our Economy; Nigerians demand Prioritization of Crude Supply to Local Refineries; Place Tariff on Import; Protect Jobs and the Nigeria Economy; National Unity Against Sabotage: Reclaiming Our Petroleum Sector for the people.
The peaceful protest organized under the aegis of the Partners for National Economic Progress (PANEP) caused heavy gridlock at the Head Bridge as the protesters occupied the entrance to the bridge , leaving vehicular movement paralysed for several hours.
Heavily armed security personnel were present at the rally to prevent hoodlums from hijacking the peaceful protest.
Various speakers , who were mostly youth and students leaders, as well as coordinators of civil society organizations including the leadership of Partners for National Economic Progress, ( PANEP), took turn to express their grievances over the activities of what they described as oil cartels in the petroleum industry.
The protest was tagged MEGA Citizens Rally and the Movement against Sabotage and Economic Saboteurs in the Nigerian Petroleum Sector: the Asaba Rally, attracted hundreds of thousands onlookers, residents and passersby who urged the government to listen to the demands of the protesters which according to them, are to protect the nation’s economy.
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One of the conveners who read the speech on behalf of the group, Comrade Danesi Momoh thanked President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for his support for local refining, and urged his administration to continue to use instruments of government against sabotage and ensure constant crude supply to refinery at a fair price and to the volume of the quota due to it.
He said the rally and movement held to end economic sabotage in Nigeria, save the Dangote Refinery, strengthen the campaign for Local oil refining in Nigeria, was sequel to the Abuja Independence Rally of October 2, 2025 and the Kaduna Rally of October 6, 2025 on the same subject.
He stated further, ”This is a powerful movement of the people to demand freedom from a heartless unpatriotic cartel that has held the country down. Their reign is over”
”This has become evident, the Nigerian people have risen to this very important and urgent occasion of national economic salvation by rooting out all manifestations of the Nigerian oil cartel, whether in the forms of PENGASSAN, NUPENG, DAPPMAN, PETROAN or Government Agencies”
”These people and their agents are public enemies, with PENGASSAN which has shown the ugliest face as PUBLIC ENEMY NUMBER ONE! We therefore declare Festus Osifo a persona non grata in all the public spaces of the 774 Local Government Areas in Nigeria. There will no longer be any space for him and his cohorts to operate and no way for them to hide their monstrous faces”
Continuing, ”These people must leave the Dangote Refinery alone. The business space is wide. They should find their own space”
”Dangote Refinery has faced too many fights that nobody can pretend that there is no orchestrated attack on the business. When did it become a crime to invest and to do so patriotically?”
Other leaders that addressed the massive Asaba Rally included Comrade Olamide Odumosu, and Comrade Adeyeye Olugbenga said they volunteered themselves to demand an end to the injustices and unpatriotic practices in the nation’s petroleum sector.
They commended Nigerians and the media for their solidarity with the Asaba mass rally. Among the conveners of the rally included Comrade Igwe Ude-umanta, Comrade Olayinka Dada, Comrade Olamide Odumosu, Comrade Omaga E. Daniel, Comrade Jabir Maiturari, Comrade Solomon Adodo, Comrade Adeyeye Olugbenga, Comrade Jide Wolimoh, and Comrade Fisayo Olubayo
(Editor Paul Akhagbemhe)
