FROM IKHILI EBALU, BENIN CITY
Tension was yesterday high in Benin City following the various protest that rock the city centre of the state due to the hike in the petroleum pump price.
The protesters barricaded various strategic places leading to the adjoining streets.
Noticeable among the protest groups are the Edo State Civil Society Organizations (EDOSCO) and the Faculty of Peace Organization (FPO).
The protesters who marched through the Sapele Road to the Ring Road, chanted various solidarity songs and warned the various store owners who opened their stores for businesses not to dare to open the next day (Tuesday) or face a dire consequences from them.
Speaking during the protest, former Coordinator General, EDOSCO, Comrade Omobude Agho, said the citizens of the country have been taken for granted and have been constantly meant to suffer untold hardship in the midst of abundance.
He said the recent hike in the petroleum pump price is anti-people and Nigerians can no longer endure the present hardship.
Agho said the prices of things have gone up while the minimum wage has remained stagnated. Fuel has become N700 and minimum wage is N30,000. Bag of rice is over N50,000 and the minimum wage is still N30,000.
Agho said, You cannot move from point unless you are carrying a heavy budget and minimum wage remain the same, we think we can’t continue like this in this country and we are coming out to say Nigerians must take action”, Agho said.
The ex-coordinator general of EDOSCO hinted that from the look of things in the country, it is now very obvious that the current leadership cannot provide the needed leadership the country requires, therefore, they should give room for those who can, to do so.
“And if they know that they can’t provide leadership for the country, they should give room for those who can to provide leadership”, he said.
He maintained that the civil society organizations in the state will from this time henceforth take battle to those who are sabotaging the nation’s economy and causing untold hardship on the Nigerian citizens.
He further said, our economy saboteur in high and low places, we will fight them. Before, we say we will resist them but now, we will fight them. Anywhere you see black marketers, pursue them, and don’t pity them that they are poor. Anybody that is wicked whether poor or rich , is wicked.
Adding that , Anywhere we catch a black marketers, we will seize the fuel, we will convert it and if you don’t have anything to do with the fuel, throw them away. So, when those at the black market don’t have the fuel, the filling stations will be forced to sell at the fixed price.
Warning that any of the filling stations that are selling above the federal government agreed price, we will begin to picket them. We know them and we know where they are and we shall get them. Our brothers and sisters are the ones working at these filling stations and we shall get them.
Stating that Even those who are contesting elections that have filling stations, they are still part of the black marketers. Even those currently in government now, still join in the black marketing business. We shall get them”, he said.
Meanwhile, the Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, said it has Set up a Monitoring Committee made up of actors in the private sector, civil society organisations and government, who will monitor the distribution and pricing of the product in order to ensure that shylock marketers do not take advantage of the situation to rip Edo citizens off.
Governor Obaseki in a Statement signed by Crusoe Osagie the Special Adviser to the Edo State Governor on Media Projects, said the government acknowledges the plight of the Edo people who have had to endure gruelling experiences accessing petroleum products as well as the exorbitant prices the product is sold for in the State in the last few days.
Osagie said, a meeting with all stakeholders in the product distribution will be convey with value chain to deliberate on the issues responsible for distribution hurdles and price hike and find lasting solutions to the matters arising.
According to him, “I have studied the grievances expressed by protesters as stated in the letter addressed to me on the issue.”
“On account of this, the government is undertaking the following actions within the next 24 hours:
Set up a Monitoring Committee made up of actors in the private sector, civil society organisations and government, who will monitor the distribution and pricing of the product in order to ensure that shylock marketers do not take advantage of the situation to rip Edo citizens off.
The government thanks all Edo people for being law-abiding and also appreciates the protesters for being peaceful even as we work with all concerned to ease the situation and build a progressive State together. He concluded.