By Rotimi Ajayi, Osaro Okhomina, Simeon Ebegbulem & Umar Yusuf
Posted to the Web: Wednesday, August 31, 2005

The Federal Government, reacting to threats by Niger Delta groups to Chinese and Korean companies that succeeded in last Friday’s oil/gas block licencing to steer clear of the area, vowed to deploy all resources at its disposal to "preserve the unity of Nigeria."

Meanwhile, prices of food items, essential goods, services and transport fares have shot up to between 20 per cent and 30 per cent in Yola following the increase in the pump prices of petroleum products.

A survey conducted by Vanguard in Jimeta and Yola markets indicated that consumer goods such as rice, yam, beans, garri, among others have risen up by about 25% while plantain, Irish potato, orange and other perishable items transported from other states have equally up by about 30% to35%.

Traders attributed the sharp increase to the recent increase in the pump prices of petrol. They argued that the increase was necessitated by the high transport fees, saying that they now pay double for such goods to be transported to the state

One Alhaji Yasha’’u Abdulrahman, a major yam dealer in Yola told Vanguard that before the latest fuel price increase, a lorry load of yam transported cost between N40,000 and N50,000 depending on the distance but has now gone up to between N60,000 and N80,000 now.

Also affected by the sharp increase are inter-state and intra-city transport fares. For instance, fares from Yola––Kano, Yola- Kaduna, Yola- Abuja and other Northern states have gone up by about 25%. Yola ––Kano and Yola-Abuja which hitherto cost N2, 000 and N3, 000 have risen to N2, 500 and N3,500 respectively.

Benin protest

The Benin protesters stormed the Delta State House of Assembly and vandalised vehicles along their route to Government House. They accused the state legislators and government of not showing solidarity in the fight against the increase in the prices of fuel.

The All Nigeria Peoples Party(ANPP) in the state accused the Federal Government of foisting on the people hardship dictated by some few individuals interested solely in the importation of refined products and asked the people to rise against the hike.

The protesting students, who caught many traders and commuters unaware, launched off the protest around 9a.m. from the Ugbowo and Ekenwa campuses. Some of the protesters attacked vehicles and commandeered them. Some others resorted to the use of bottles and sticks to whip commercial motorcyclists popularly known as Okada, who presumably failed to stop.

An Okada man apparently in an attempt to escape being lynched by the protesters, swerved on the way of an on-coming car and two passengers riding on it died instantly, while the Okada man was rushed to the state-owned hospital, Cantral (Specialist) hospital.

Undaunted, the protesters proceeded to the state Government House, where a team of policemen led by the Chief Security Officer was waiting.

Responding to the grievances of the protesting students, the State Deputy Governor, Chief Mike Oghiadhome, said though the state government could not change the situation and would not support any policy that would cause hardship for the people,"the manner you have conducted yourselves here today shows the level of maturity the Nigerian students have reached. We will want you to articulate your grievances and we will pass the message to the president."

Meanwhile, the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) through its Publicity Secretary, Comrade Godwin Erhahon, yesterday condemned the fuel price hike, describing the Federal Government action as a betrayal of trust and a ploy to implement the plan of few individuals interested in the importation of refined products and exportation of crude.

FG warns

And responding to the threat by some Niger Delta groups to stop Chinese and Koreans firms that won oil/gas blocks in last week’s licencing round in Abuja, the Federal Government vowed to deploy all at its disposal to preserve the unity of Nigeria.

Presidential Special Assistant on Public Affairs, Mr Femi Fani-Kayode, warned the groups not to under-estimate the resolve of the present administration to preserve peace and unity in Nigeria. He said: "Our position is that this government is committed to preserving the peace and unity of Nigerian state. We will do all that is in our powers to ensure that the lives, properties and assets of every Nigerian and non-Nigerian within the Niger-Delta area and outside the Niger-Delta area is secured and protected.

The Niger-Delta groups had threatened to prevent the new foreign oil companies which won the oil blocks licence at the just concluded 2005 bid round licensing from the zone.

The group, acting under the aegis of Ijaw Monitoring Group, had declared that the grants given to the Chinese and Korean companies were not acceptable to them. Apart from the latest threat, another group called the South-South Liberation Movement had also at the weekend threatened to initiate succession move for the Niger-Delta zone to actualise the campaign for resource control.