Students under the umbrella of the National Association of Oduduwa Students (NAOS), the Coalition of Yoruba Students, and the Yoruba Movement on Tuesday staged a solidarity protest in Ibadan, Oyo State, in support of the Dangote Refinery amid its ongoing dispute with oil workers’ and marketers’ unions, including PENGASSAN, NUPENG, and DAPPMAN.
The protesters gathered at the Iwo Road Roundabout, at the Ibadan end of the Lagos–Ibadan Expressway, and marched through major streets chanting solidarity songs and displaying placards with inscriptions such as “Don’t Kill Dangote Refinery,” “#StopSabotagingFuelInNigeria,” “#EndPENGASSAN,” and “#DangoteRefineryIsANationalAsset.”
Clad in matching shirts bearing the message “Don’t Kill Dangote Refinery,” the students said their action aimed to alert the Federal Government to what they described as a “coordinated attempt by vested interests” to frustrate the refinery’s operations — a facility they called “Nigeria’s biggest industrial investment and Africa’s largest single-train refinery.”
Addressing journalists during the peaceful rally, NAOS President Olalere Adetunji appealed to President Bola Tinubu and relevant authorities to safeguard the refinery’s operations.
“We appeal to the Federal Government to protect the refinery and ensure that labour unions and marketers’ actions do not derail Nigeria’s move toward fuel self-sufficiency,” Adetunji said.
He added that the Dangote Refinery represents a critical step toward reducing Nigeria’s dependence on imported fuel and stimulating industrial development.
Security personnel, including operatives of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) and the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), were deployed to strategic points to maintain order.
The protest, however, remained peaceful throughout the demonstration.
