Hundreds of protesters blocked roads in Benin City, the Edo State capital in Southwest Nigeria, on Monday, protesting the ongoing fuel shortage and price increase.
SaharaReporters saw a video of the protest on Monday morning, which showed fires on the road and thick smoke billowing from the burning materials.
According to the video’s narration, “This is live in Benin City, the capital of Edo State; a massive protest is taking place over the fuel crisis. Protesters are blocking roads and setting fire to the roadblocks.”
SaharaReporters previously reported that the price of premium motor spirit (PMS), also known as petrol, had risen, with some fuel stations charging as much as N400 per litre.
According to recent reports, the official price of the product was N165 per litre before the government quietly increased it to N185 per litre. However, due to the product’s scarcity and rising demand, many fuel stations have been selling it for between N340 and N400 per litre.
The product’s scarcity is currently causing untold hardship for Nigerians.
According to SaharaReporters, President Buhari recently formed a 14-member committee that he will lead to find solutions to the lingering fuel scarcity.
According to Mr Timipre Sylvia, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, the committee will be chaired by the President as the Minister of Petroleum Resources, with him serving as the alternate chairman.
The committee’s job is to address the challenges in the downstream sector of the petroleum industry, causing petrol scarcity in Nigeria.
It will also track petroleum products, especially petrol to ascertain daily national consumption and eliminate smuggling.
In October 2022, Sylva said Nigeria was losing at least 700,000 barrels of crude oil to thieves daily.
The minister said this through the Permanent Secretary in the petroleum resources ministry, Ambassador Gabriel Aduda, who represented him at the 2002 graduation of students of the Petroleum Training Institute (PTI).