Fresh Protest Rocks Niger after Arrest of 25 Persons in Suleja
● Court gives FG 7 days to fix food prices, petroleum products, others ● Lukman: protests against harsh living condition justifiable ● Arewa group blames scarcity on saboteurs Group says it’s time to occupy Nigeria, another partners Kano farmers
Residents of Suleja, Niger State, took to the streets yesterday to register their displeasure over the high cost of living in the country, in a fresh protest to rock the North-central state in one week.
The Niger State Police Command said it had arrested 25 of the protesters, after a similar protest in Minna, the state capital, just two days before.
The fresh protest came as Justice Ambrose Lewis-Allagoa of the Federal High Court, Lagos, ordered the federal government to fix the prices of foodstuff and petroleum products within seven days from yesterday (Wednesday).
In response to the growing discontent among the masses, former National Vice Chairman, North-east of All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr. Salihu Lukman, said the protests by Nigerians against the harsh economic conditions were justifiable.
But a social-political group in the northern part of Nigeria, the Arewa Think Thank (ATT), said food scarcity in the country was the handiwork of "saboteurs" who did not mean well for the administration of Tinubu.
Relatedly, the Osun Civil Societies Coalition, an umbrella body for civil society organisations in Osun State, called on Nigerians to return to the streets to demand a quick end to the economic hardship plaguing the country.
Another non-governmental organisation, Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT), entered into a partnership with wheat farmers in Kano State, as its contribution to efforts to reduce wheat importation.
Suleja, the commercial nerve centre of Niger State, is a few kilometres away from the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
An eyewitness, Mr. Yazid Abubakar, who spoke to THISDAY, said the protesters stormed the popular Moroko Road, where the biggest market was located in the town. They carried placards with various inscriptions, such as “Leadership is all about improving the life of the masses,” and “Nigerians are suffering, stop the hardship now”.
Some women and youths in their numbers also took to the streets and blocked the Kpagungu axis of Minna-Bida Road in the Niger State capital on Monday, protesting against hunger and the high cost of living.
The women, whose placard also read, “No food, we are dying of hunger”, among others, demanded a better condition of living and reduction in the cost of living for the citizenry.
They accused political officeholders of insensitivity to their plight, lamenting their inability to feed even once a day.
The protest caused traffic gridlock on the ever-busy Minna-Bida Road, which is a link road to the Southwest part of the country from the North-central.
Niger State Police Command arrested 25 of the protesters.
Police Public Relations Officer, Wasiu Abiodun, confirmed the arrest of one Aisha Jibrin, the initiator of the protest, and 24 other suspects.
The earlier protest in Minna had forced Tinubu to order a food intervention to check the shortage of food in the country.
Court Gives FG 7 Days to Fix Food Prices
Justice Ambrose Lewis-Allagoa of the Federal High Court, Lagos, ordered the federal government to fix the prices of foodstuff and petroleum products within seven days Wednesday.
The judge made the order while delivering judgement in a suit marked FHC/L/CS/869/2023, filed by human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN), against the Price Control Board and the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF).
The court ordered the federal government to fix the prices of milk, flour, salt, sugar, bicycles and its spare parts, matches, motorcycles and its spare parts, motor vehicles and its spare parts as well as petroleum products, which include diesel, petrol motor spirit (PMS) and kerosene.
Falana had approached the court for a declaration that by virtue of Section 4 of the Price Control Act Cap, the defendants were under a legal obligation to fix the prices of those items.
He sought, "A declaration that the failure or refusal of the defendants to fix the prices of bicycles and spare parts; flour; matches; milk; motorcycles and spare parts; motor vehicles and spare parts; salt; sugar and petroleum products including diesel, petrol motor spirit and kerosene is illegal as it offends the provision of Section 4 of the Price Control Act, Cap, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.
"An order directing the defendants to fix the prices of bicycles and spare parts; flour; matches; milk; motorcycles and spare parts; motor vehicles and spare parts; salt; sugar and petroleum products including diesel, petrol motor spirit and kerosene not later than seven days after the delivery of the Judgment of this Honourable court."
At the hearing of the suit, the plaintiff, Falana, informed the court that the motion on notice was premised on Section 4 (1) of the Price Control Act, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004. He also told the court that the defendants in the suit had been served with the processes since it was filed in May 2023, but they refused and failed to file any response or counter to it.
Consequently, Falana urged the court to grant all the reliefs sought for since there was no opposition from the respondents.
Lewis-Allagoa, after hearing from the senior lawyer and going through the court processes, observed that the defendants did not file any counter to the suit. He cited some legal authorities, and held, "All the reliefs contained in the motion paper are hereby granted as prayed."
Lukman: Protesting for Survival Justifiable
Former National Vice Chairman, North-east, All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr. Salihu Lukman, said the protests against the harsh economic conditions were justifiable.
Lukman urged Tinubu not to submit to the temptation of criminalising the legitimate grievances of Nigerians protesting against harsh living and economic conditions.
The party chieftain, in a statement titled, "Renewed Hope Exchanging for Renewed Anger," said the protest called for urgent response by the government.
He stressed that no one should be deceived because the protest in Minna and Kano were justifiable protests, saying Tinubu may wish to ignore them at his own peril.
Lukman said to suggest that any opposition party could mobilise citizens to protest against the government was defeatist. He was of the opinion that such a response must, as a matter of necessity, address existing reality whereby prices of goods and services, especially food items, were astronomically going up, almost on hourly basis.
Lukman lamented that there were gory tales of Nigerians going to the same markets within short intervals, sometimes less than 24 hours, and encountering higher prices for the same quantity of products.
He stressed that those were predictable realities triggered by conscious decisions taken by the government of Tinubu.
Arewa Group Blames Scarcity on Saboteurs
A group, Arewa Think Thank (ATT), said the food scarcity in the country was the handiwork of "saboteurs", who did not mean well for the Tinubu administration.
The group, in a statement yesterday, alleged that economic saboteurs were mopping up food "to embarrass the administration of Tinubu".
ATT called on the president to investigate the issue with a view to bringing the saboteurs to book.
In the statement by its Convener, Mr Muhammad Yakubu, the group also called on Tinubu to query the 36 governors over the food items the federal government gave them recently to share to the masses.