There was heavy traffic on Thursday morning, October 9, 2025, at the head bridge linking Asaba, Delta State, to Onitsha, as members of the Partners for National Economic Progress (PANEP) staged a peaceful protest against what they described as “economic sabotage in Nigeria’s petroleum sector.”
The protesters, carrying placards with messages such as “Dangote Refinery is a blessing to our economy, say no to sabotage,” and “Protect Nigerian jobs, place tariffs on petroleum imports,” blocked parts of the busy route as they marched and chanted solidarity songs.
Other inscriptions on the placards read: “Nigerians, backed by foreign businesses, killed the textile industry,” and “PENGASSAN, NUPENG, DAPPMAN, stop sabotaging the petroleum downstream sector.”
Speaking during the rally, one of the conveners, Comrade Danesi Momoh, said the protest was part of a nationwide movement to end economic sabotage, protect the Dangote Refinery, and promote local oil refining in Nigeria.
“Today’s rally follows similar protests in Abuja and Kaduna. It’s a movement to free Nigeria from unpatriotic cartels that have held the country down. Their reign is over,” Momoh declared.
He accused some industry groups, including PENGASSAN, NUPENG, DAPPMAN, and PETROAN, of frustrating efforts to promote local refining, describing them as “public enemies” working against the country’s economic growth.
“PENGASSAN has shown the ugliest face as Public Enemy Number One,” he said. “We declare Festus Osifo a persona non grata in all 774 local government areas in Nigeria. There will be no hiding place for saboteurs.”
Momoh warned that any further attempt to frustrate local refining would be met with mass citizen action, noting that Nigerians were now aware of the alleged sabotage against the Dangote Refinery.
“This sabotage will never succeed. Dangote Refinery has faced too many fights that prove an orchestrated attack. When did it become a crime to invest patriotically?” he asked.
He also commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for supporting local refining and urged the government to guarantee a steady supply of crude oil to the Dangote Refinery at fair prices.
“We thank President Tinubu for backing local refining. We urge him to keep using government instruments to protect the refinery and ensure it receives its rightful crude oil quota,” Momoh said.
The protesters described their action as part of a “liberation movement” to defend Nigeria’s economic independence, coming shortly after the country’s 65th Independence anniversary.
“This is an urgent and patriotic task. The oil sector independence struggle is upon us,” Momoh added.
Other conveners of the protest 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.
The peaceful protest ended with chants of “God bless Dangote Refinery, God bless Nigeria!” as traffic slowly returned to normal around the Asaba-Onitsha head bridge.
