Nigeria grapples with fuel shortages, price surges

Nigeria is grappling with widespread fuel shortages that are forcing motorists to spend hours in lines to buy gas and causing prices to surge for transportation and basic commodities.

Fuel retailers are pleading with the government to deregulate the market to allow them set their own prices.

But the Nigerian government insisted that the pump price must remain the same. Some gas stations have gone ahead and increased their prices, which has reduced their lines, while others in Abuja, the capital, continue to sell at the government-set pump price.

Gasoline shortages are frequent in Nigeria even though the country is one of Africa's biggest producers of crude oil.