Police in Edo State have said that the protest against the protracted price hikes in fuel price and the scarcity of the product in Benin City on Monday was generally peaceful.
The police spokesman in Edo SP Chidi Nwabuzor stated this in Benin City when asked whether the police made arrest of any protesters or have reports of destruction of public and private property during the incident.
“Nobody was arrested, the protest was generally peaceful aside the burning of condemned tyres.
“As we speak, no reported case of burning of petrol station, building or any other property”, SP Nwabuzor said.
Protesters, mainly youths had on Monday, January 30, 2023 blocked some major roads in the state capital in response to the steady astronomical increase.
Our investigation revealed that the price of premium motor spirit (PMS), otherwise called petrol has skyrocketed, with some fuel stations in the state capital selling for as high as N650 per litre.
The government approved price of the product was N165 per litre before recent reports accusing the government of quietly hiking it to N185 per litre.
Prior to the current situation, many filling stations in Benin City sold the product between N220 and N290 per litre as government looked the other way.
The scarcity of the product is currently causing untold hardship for Nigerians.
The APC led Federal Government has appeared indecisive in addressing the challenges in the downstream sector of Nigeria petroleum industry.
President Mohammadu Buhari has been in charge of Nigeria petroleum ministry since 2015 when he succeeded Mr Goodluck Jonathan.
There have reportedly been large scale smuggling of Nigeria’s petroleum products, fluctuating estimates of daily national consumption and inflated figures for buying and selling along the value chain.
Industry watchers say that there are a handful of questions around the subsidy regime that need to be answered for sanity to reign in Nigeria’s petroleum products industry.
