Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and other residents of Edo State, especially the youths, on Monday staged a peaceful protest over the hike in the pump price of petrol.
The protesters barricaded strategic locations within Benin metropolis and marched through Sapele Road to Ring Road, thereby causing gridlock on the busy roads.
The protesters warned shop owners not to open for business today (Tuesday) so as not to face their wrath.
Speaking during the protest, a former Coordinator General of Edo State Civil Society Organisations (EDOSCO), Comrade Omobude Agho, lamented that the citizens had suffered untold hardship in the midst of affluence.
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He said the recent hike in the price of petrol was anti-people and that Nigerians would no longer endure the hardship.
He said, “Fuel has become N700, and minimum wage is still N30,000. Bag of rice is over N50,000 and the minimum wage is still N30,000.You cannot move from one point to another in the city due to the hike and the minimum wage still remains the same.”
He added that transportation fare had doubled in the state and that commuters had to pay through their nose to get to their destinations.
He, therefore, warned that the CSOs in the state would henceforth take the battle to those who were sabotaging the nation’s economy and causing untold hardship on Nigerians.
He further said, “Our economic saboteurs are in high and low places; we will fight them. Before, we said we would 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
“Anywhere we catch black marketers, we will seize the fuel, we will convert it, and if you don’t have anything to do with the fuel, throw it 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.”
He added that the CSOs would begin to picket the filling stations that were selling above the federal government’s agreed price.
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