Nigeria’s fuel tanker drivers began a strike on Monday over rising operational costs due to the recent second devaluation of the naira currency within a year and over the state of the country’s roads, a union official said.

The Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO), which groups thousands of truck owners and drivers responsible for fuel distribution in Africa’s most populous nation, are pushing for higher freight charges from fuel marketers due to rising costs.

Nigeria, under the old subsidy regime, doubled freight charges to 20.46 naira per liter in 2021 to support deliveries of fuel and maintain uniform prices nationwide.

But the removal of the fuel subsidy ended the government’s obligation to pay the freight charges that helped keep retail prices uniform across Nigeria’s 36 states.

With the subsidy gone, fuel marketers are increasingly turning to more modern haulage service providers or setting up their fleets to compete with those represented by the NARTO union.