Fuel Crisis: TUC wants black marketers arrested

Rotimi Ojomoyela Ado-Ekiti

As the industrial action declared by oil marketers in Ekiti state entered the third week, the Trade Union Congress(TUC), has called on the police to arrest black marketers who have taken over every corner of the state and sell a litre of fuel for as much as N300 . Th e TUC Chairman in Ekiti, Com. Odunayo Adesoye lamented that the black marketers have turned the state into a lawless fi efdom where hawking was being done openly, describing the situation as not only worrisome but dangerous because of the infl ammability of the petroleum product.

Th e TUC boss appealed to the striking oil marketers to return to work to reduce the hardship the economic recession is having on the populace, saying the crisis may end up destabilizing the economy if not resolved amicably. Speaking in Ado Ekiti yesterday on the toll the crisis was having on the workforce, Adesoye said the worrisome situation has prevented many of his colleagues in the civil service from performing their statutory duties. Petrol marketers in the state have been on strike for three weeks over lingering crisis between members of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria(IPMAN) and Governor Ayodele Fayose over threat to revoke their Certifi cates of Occupancy(Cs of O).

Th e labour leader the organized labour in the state will wade into the impasse with the intention to spread olive branch to the warring factions for expeditious resolution of the logjam. Adesoye viewed the crisis between IPMAN and the state government as dangerous to the economy of the state, saying several businesses that operate on petrol have closed up since the bedlam began. “Th e situation is becoming more dangerous than ever imagined because petrol is now being stored everywhere by black marketers and this can trigger fi re outbreak. Th e security agencies must rise to the occasion. How can someone be hawking petrol like water? Th is doesn’t portray a good omen

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