Fuel scarcity looms as tanker drivers begin strike

Fuel scarcity loomed on Monday as tanker drivers and the Jetties and Private Tank Farms Owners of Nigeria began nationwide strikes.

While the tanker drivers embarked on their strike to protest the killing of their colleague by soldiers on November 6, JEPTFON hinged its action on the order by the court that the assets of some oil firms be seized.Spokesman of JEPTFON, Mr. Peter Akpatason, told our correspondents on Monday night that the accounts of African Petroleum, Global Fleet and MRS had been ordered frozen by the court. He said, “As we are talking now, the accounts of AP, Global Fleet and MRS had been seized on the orders of the court. These are companies that got into trouble because of a sudden dip in the value of the dollar to the naira, which led to huge losses when they imported products a year ago. “Now the court is granting Mareva injunctions against them and they cannot pay their workers and meet their obligations.” A Mareva injunction is an injunction allowing the court to freeze a defendant’s assets to prevent them from being transferred abroad. Akpatason said that all private depot owners nationwide were participating in the strike, which meant that fuel would not be lifted from those depots. Also, the Secretary-General of the PTD branch of NUPENG, Mr. Dayyabu Garga, said on Monday that the union had begun a nationwide strike to protest the alleged killing of one of its members by soldiers.