Residents of Plateau State, led by the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), stormed the streets of Jos, the state capital, on Tuesday to protest against the current economic hardship bedevilling the nation.
In line with the nationwide directive of the NLC, the workers are demanding an end to the current economic challenges in the nation and the insecurity in the state and other parts of the country.
The protesters who gathered at the Secretariat Flyover Bridge called on the federal government to come to their aid as the situation had become unbearable.
Speaking to newsmen, the state chairman of the NLC, Eugene Mangji, noted that the current hardship is a result of the removal of fuel subsidy.
Mangji lamented the fact that Nigerians have suffered a lot just in less than one year since the President Bola Tinubu-led administration came into power.
In his own words, “We are not happy, Nigerians are not happy over the situation in the country that has brought untold hardship and suffering of the citizens which started immediately after the removal of the oil subsidy. It started as a joke and suddenly, the price of petrol which was initially sold at N197 jumped to N530 and then to N670. Today, petrol is sold at more than N700.
“Imagine that we are not up to one year in the life of this present administration and Nigerians are experiencing this kind of thing. The exchange rate has also gone to almost N2,000 per dollar and since everything is dependent on the exchange rate, prices of goods and services have also gone up beyond the reach of ordinary Nigerians. Even the students in higher institutions are not finding it easy at all.”
He, therefore, tasked the federal government with coming to the aid of the masses by addressing the economic hardship and the current insecurity, which are gradually becoming the order of the day.
News About Nigeria reports that the protesters are not left alone as there are heavy presence of policemen and other security agents to ensure peace and calm during the ongoing protests.
