Schools closed because of protest marches by groups, fuel shortages

SEVERAL private schools in Benin City, the capital of Edo state, closed on Monday as civil society groups protested the continued scarcity and rise in the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), also known as gasoline.

Notable among the protest groups were the Edo State Civil Society Organizations (EDOCSO) and the Faculty of Peace Organization (FPO).

The peaceful protest that grounded businesses and other activities in various parts of Benin City began as early as 7 a.m., when principals of some private schools reportedly sent text messages to parents as early as 6:30 a.m. informing parents and guardians that the school would not open, apparently for fear of the planned protest.

Other schools that failed to send text messages to parents and guardians sent their students back home to their entry gates in what could be described as a fear of the unknown.

There was a heavy security presence in metropolitan Benin as early as 6 a.m. just as armed police officers, armored vehicles, members of the Edo State Security Network (ESSN) and members of the Public Works Volunteers (PUWOV) took control of key areas in the capital.

Speaking to journalists during the protest, one of the leaders of EDOCSO, the leftist Omobude Agho, said the recent rise in the oil pump price is anti-people, frowning that Nigerians can no longer bear the hardship.

He said, “Fuel has become N700, sack of rice is over N50,000 and the minimum wage is still N30,000.

“We used to say we would resist them, but now we will fight them. Everywhere you see black marketers, chase them and don’t pity them for being poor. Anyone who is bad, whether rich or poor, is bad.

“Wherever we catch black marketeers, we confiscate the fuel, we are going to convert it and if you have nothing to do with the fuel, throw it away,” he advised his fellow protesters.

Speaking at the Edo State Government House in Benin City, one of the coordinators of the protest, Osunbor Omokaro, said: “Only the megamarketers are selling fuel at the government-approved price in Edo State.

“Go to Lagos State, Conoil, NIPCO, MRS are still selling at government approved price, but when it comes to Edo State, our products are redirected to independent marketers.

“That is why our situation is even worse. We know that there is a shortage of petroleum products in Nigeria, but the kind of prices and pain residents of Edo state are subjected to due to the manipulative propensity of the big marketers is unbearable,” he lamented.

Reception of the demonstrators, the Chairman, Edo State House of Assembly, Hon. Marcus Onobun, said he would forward the protesters’ complaints to the executive arm of the government, especially to their question that the state government did not consider it appropriate to create a task force to monitor the anomalies in the petroleum distribution chain.