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Benin locked down in protest over fuel scarcity, price hike

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Residents and motorists have locked down Benin city in protest over fuel scarcity and astronomical increase of price.

Congress gathered that a litre of fuel is sold at N700 and this coupled with the hoarding of Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, popularly known as petrol by marketers.

The angry protesters were calling on the state government to set up a price control committee to check the prices of petrol, availability and other essential commodities.

The protest led to the locked down of Sapele road, Ring road, and other significant parts of the city, causing gridlock.

Former Coordinator-General of Edo State Civil Society Organisation, EDOSCO, Omobude Agho, groaned that citizens had suffered untold hardship amid affluence.

According to him, Nigerians could no longer endure hardship caused by the hike in the prices of petrol, describing it as anti-people.

“Fuel has become N700, and minimum wage is still N30,000. He stated that a bag of rice is over N50,000, and the minimum wage is still N30,000”.

Reacting, the Edo State Governor said his government would do everything to address the problem.

Special Adviser to Edo State Governor on Media Projects, Crusoe Osagie, added that it would work with relevant stakeholders to address the matter.

Osagie stressed that the government would set up a monitoring committee within 24 hours to ensure fuel marketers do not exploit citizens.

“The government acknowledges the plight of Edo people, who have had to endure gruelling experiences accessing petroleum products and the exorbitant prices the product is sold for in the state in the last few days.”

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