Nigerians have taken to the streets across the country to protest against the government's decision to remove popular fuel subsidies, which more than doubled the price of petrol, shutting banks, shops and schools.
Sonny Dahl, director, West Africa Services at Maersk Line, the world's biggest container shipping company, said its container ships were unable to enter Nigeria's ports.
"Everything is at a standstill - there are no operations going on and everything is at a general strike level," Dahl told Reuters.
Container ships normally bring in much of Nigeria's consumer goods and also transport foodstuffs.
Dahl said eight of the company's container ships were affected by disruptions at ports across the country.
"They are carrying consumer goods of various kinds and foodstuffs," he said.
He said some of the vessels were already anchored outside ports, while others would arrive in one to two days.
"We are consistently evaluating whether we should divert any of them to other ports (outside of Nigeria)," he said.
"For now, we have made a plan until early next week that we wait outside. It's anyone's guess when the strike will end."
Maersk Line said the Nigerian market represented 60 percent of its container ship imports into West Africa. (Reuters)
