Abuja  - Nigeria's fuel tanker drivers began an indefinite strike Friday to protest high fuel prices and the poor condition state of the country's roads, which they said was a huge hindrance to business.

"The high price of diesel is biting very hard. It is unbearable," Pius Ikechi, the deputy president of the Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas workers, said.

The strike could lead to a shortage of diesel, which is used widely in generators necessary to provide businesses and homes with power during frequent power outages.

Many motorists were seen engaging in panic buying of fuel at the pump stations as the news of the strike spread.

Attacks by militants on Nigerian oil facilities have helped send global oil prices soaring.

Nigeria is the eight-largest crude oil exporter, but it still imports 90 per cent of its petroleum products.

Ikechi said that the drivers' representatives would meet with Minister of Petroleum Odein Ajumogobia to negotiate, but warned that the strike would 2be indefinite until the government does something tangible." (dpa)