Dozens of aggrieved motorists besieged the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) Mega Station along the Western Bypass in Minna on Sunday morning, October 25, 2026, protesting a prolonged three-month outage of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG).
The demonstration highlighted growing frustration among vehicle owners who converted their engines to alternative fuel to cut costs, only to be left stranded by faulty infrastructure.
​The outage stems from a technical failure in a critical component of the station’s sole CNG dispensing machine, which has remained unrepaired despite repeated visits by affected drivers seeking answers.
With no alternative refuelling facility operating within the Niger State capital, motorists, many of whom invested over ₦1 million in CNG conversion kits, have been forced back to purchasing expensive Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), significantly heightening their financial burden.
​Speaking during the peaceful demonstration, one of the lead protesting motorists, Engr. Israel Ogbonnaya, expressed deep disappointment over the prolonged failure of the station and the lack of communication from management. He noted that since January, many vehicle owners who invested heavily in conversions have been unable to recoup their investments due to the three-month shutdown.
Ogbonnaya criticised facility officials for taking the public for granted, emphasizing that CNG represents the heartbeat of the President’s national energy initiative and demanding immediate intervention from federal authorities.
​Another affected motorist, Mohammed Doko Saidu, voiced frustration over the lack of supporting infrastructure, questioning why the government championed the conversion drive across states without ensuring dependable refuelling stations were in place.
Having recently spent over a million naira on conversion without obtaining a single drop of gas, Saidu recounted how motorists held out hope day after day while the station lay fallow. The situation eventually forced him to disconnect some of the gas cylinders installed in his vehicle.
​Efforts to reach the manager of the NNPC Mega Station for comments during the protest were unsuccessful, as station attendants on duty declined to speak on behalf of management.
​Clarifying the state government’s position on Sunday, the Director of the Niger State Ministry of Transport, Alhaji Muhammad Abdullah, stated that the protest fell under the purview of NNPCL rather than state authority. He explained that the state ministry’s own planned CNG initiative has not officially taken off yet, as implementation work remains ongoing.
​Demonstrating drivers warned that if NNPCL fails to repair the dispensing equipment and restore gas supplies immediately, they will return for a larger protest involving commercial tricycle operators and minibus drivers across the city.
